


USS Fae

by nycz



Series: Tales from the 24th century [1]
Category: Maleficent (2014), Star Trek
Genre: Adventure, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Light Angst, Nonbinary Character, Post Voyager-era, Slow Burn, Star Trek AU, Technobabble
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-09 09:58:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 45,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1978581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nycz/pseuds/nycz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aurora Rose is a young, freshly promoted starship captain that can't take her eyes off her far too attractive half Vulcan, half human first officer, Amalia "Maleficent" Moors.</p>
<p>Star Trek AU, but can most likely be read without any prior knowledge of Star Trek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> For those interested in Star Trek stuff:
> 
> It takes place some time after the end of Star Trek: Voyager, probably in the late 2370s or 2380s in the main universe (i.e. not the reboot universe).  
> The USS Fae is a Nova-class starship because they're so pwetty. Also it's a small science vessel so it makes sense that Aurora would be getting a position as a first officer there, despite her lack of experience.  
> Maleficent is half Vulcan, half human. (Hi Spock!) The reason Aurora thinks she's Vulcan is because she ogled the image of Maleficent in her file too much to bother to read the rest. Whoops.
> 
> I'll do my best to keep it in the confines of canon main-universe Star Trek (no interplanetary transporters etc) but I haven't watched any of the series in a while so I might miss some things. Hopefully nothing too glaring.
> 
> For those not well-versed in Star Trek: a PADD is a tablet, touchscreen and everything.
> 
> The rating is T for now but don't bet on it staying that way. Also, I'll add more of the characters in the tags as they show up.
> 
> In any case, happy reading and I hope you'll like it :)

"Commander, there's an incoming transmission from Admiral Hayes."

Aurora Rose shifted uncomfortably in her chair. It still felt too big for her, too imposing. "Thank you, Ensign," she said with a stiff smile. "I'll take it in my ready room."

Sitting down at the desk in her ready room, she took a few moments to try to get her breathing under control, without much success. She knew exactly what the call was about and she had been dreading it for the last week, ever since her commanding officer and the captain of the ship – Captain Roberts – had died in a heart attack. Seeing how Starfleet was still rebuilding after the Dominion War, chances were slim that they would send another officer to take Roberts' place, which meant that she – as the first officer and the current acting captain – would have to be promoted. The responsibility wasn't something she was looking forward to.

Finally, she took a few deep breath and activated the screen, her expression fairly neutral.

"Admiral."

"Ah, Commander, it's good to see you." Hayes greeted her with a dip of his head. "I only wish it would have been under better circumstances. We got your message about Captain Roberts' passing three days ago. I'm sorry for your loss."

Aurora gave him a faint smile. "Thank you. I didn't know him that well, but it's still... difficult. It's not what I had expected, not on a scientific mission like this."

"Of course. His death came as a complete surprise to everyone. In any case, we've sent the USS Laika to bring him back to his family on Earth. It should arrive at your location in a day or so."

"We won't be taking him back?" Aurora asked.

"You have a mission, Commander, and despite the last few years, exploration and science is still a vital part of Starfleet's operation. USS Laika is already heading for Earth and only has to make a slight detour to get to you. You'll transfer the remains to the Laika before continuing the exploration of the nebula."

"I see." She paused, only barely resisting chewing on her lip. "Will they bring any new crew?"

"No. You'll have to make do with the crew you have."

She nodded, letting out a small sigh. At first, she'd hoped that her chief engineer, Commander Moors, would take over as captain as she had far more experience and time in Starfleet than Aurora, but Moors' response had been short and to the point. _No._

"I know this is sudden, but I know you can do this." His voice was firm but not unkind. "It's a small, good ship and the crew is well trained and loyal. You'll do a fine job."

"Thank you, Admiral," she said, thankful that he couldn't see her fidgeting under the desk.

He nodded curtly. "Consider yourself field promoted, Captain. Any other promotions are up to you as you see fit. The USS Fae is yours. Hayes out."

Aurora slumped back in her chair, letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in. She was a captain now – a _real_ captain, not just acting captain – and she had the fates of almost eighty people on her shoulders. Like she'd told the admiral, it wasn't what she had expected. No one could have expected that Captain Roberts' rare heart condition would manifest in a fatal heart attack, least of all in the middle of their mission to explore this remote nebula. Although the doctor was investigating the possibility of the nebula somehow triggering the heart attack, the last Aurora heard it looked like a simple, unpredictable fluke.

All she'd wanted had been to explore, to see the galaxy and all it had to offer. She hadn't wanted to lead, but when she'd gotten the offer to join the USS Fae, even though in the position of first officer, she hadn't hesitated to accept. A short time as first officer on the Fae's mission into the nebula and then maybe she would find an opening as a science officer later on. That had been the plan before the captain had died, leaving her as the acting captain.

Swallowing a pathetic groan, Aurora reluctantly stood and headed to the bridge. Time to tell the crew.

"Open a shipwide channel," she said, stopping in the middle of the bridge.

"Channel open, Ma'am."

Aurora straightened up, remembering how easy Roberts made it seem. "Attention, this is Captain Rose. As we all know, Captain Roberts passed away a week ago after a heart failure. Despite this sudden loss, our mission will continue – the mission he started and he led us through." She paused and breathed out, clenching her hands behind her back to stop their quivering. "As of now, I'm taking command of the ship by order of Admiral Hayes. As soon as we've rendezvoused with the USS Laika to send the captain's remains back to Earth, we will head back into the nebula to continue where we left off. Thank you."

 

* * *

 

If there was one habit Aurora loathed to have, it was the fidgeting. Numerous instructors in the academy had wrinkled their noses at it, telling her to "get her act together" and other bits of useful advice. And they were right, of course, because how could anyone be expected to take their commanding officer seriously when said officer couldn't stop wringing their hands or smoothing out their uniform? It was ridiculous, so she'd worked hard on it and managed to curb her impulses successfully in any but the most dire of situations.

At least, that was before she met Commander Moors. Aurora wasn't sure if it was her father's vitriolic hate and fear of aliens that had spilled over on her despite her best efforts, or simply the otherworldly beauty of the commander: the eyes that always seemed to shine with a hint of gold; her high, sharp cheekbones; the full lips or perhaps the simple tapering of her ears. Aurora hadn't come into contact with many aliens when growing up (needless to say, her father hadn't agreed with her career choice) and all aliens fascinated her to an extent, but her interest in the Vulcan commander was bordering on an obsession.

And now, somehow, Aurora would have to work with her, in the same room, on a daily basis. It wasn't as if she hadn't thought of other options; in fact, she had practically scoured through the whole damn ship to find someone, _anyone_ else to take up the position of first officer, but everyone was either too vital to transfer, entirely unfit for the position or both, which left her with the chief engineer, Commander Amalia Moors.

The door pinged, stirring her from her thoughts. "Enter," she called out, unable to hide the faint quiver in her voice.

In strode the tall Vulcan, calm and collected like always. "Captain. I assume you're here to discuss the vacant position of first officer?"

Aurora swallowed and straightened up in her chair, feeling very small in front of the towering woman. "I– uh, yes." She cleared her throat, feeling more like a schoolgirl asking out her crush than a captain of a starship. "You're the most qualified officer on the ship and I need a first officer. I want you on the bridge." There, simple and straight to the point without sounding too much like a blabbering idiot. Aurora mentally patted herself on the back.

"I see."

_Of course she wouldn't like it,_ Aurora thought, her posture instantly deflating. "I know you don't want a promotion, Commander, but unless we get a replacement from Starfleet, you're the only one who will fit the job."

"You seem to have misunderstood me, Captain," commander Moors said, her face a picture of Vulcan stoicism. "My refusal to be promoted to captain is not a sign of a general reluctance for higher positions in Starfleet."

Frowning, Aurora said, "oh."

"In fact, I will gladly accept the promotion to first officer."

"Oh," Aurora repeated, her face lighting up. "That's wonderful!" A split second later, she realized her decidedly un-captain-like outburst and a small blush colored her cheeks, one that only deepened as commander Moors' lips quirked up in a faint smile.

"Wonderful indeed."

"Well, onto other matters then," Aurora hurriedly mumbled, picking up a PADD while trying to forget the woman in front of her. "Do you have a suggestion for who should take over as chief engineer?"

The commander remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "Balthazar."

"Balthazar?" Aurora scrolled through the names of the crew but came up empty.

"My apologies, Captain. His name is Lieutenant Elwood Bailey." She paused, eyes darting away from Aurora in a gesture that almost looked embarrassed. "There is an informal tradition of sorts in engineering where each officer receives an alternate name."

Aurora tilted her head to the side, her brows rising in surprise. "You give each other nicknames?"

"Correct. I will of course immediately halt the practice if you–"

"No, no," Aurora stopped her with a wave of her hand, "it's fine. As long as you still know your real names, of course," she added with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Commander Moors looked anything but amused. Aurora liked to think it was her Vulcan version of pouting. "I can assure you, it was a slip of the tongue. It will not happen again, Captain."

The picture of commander Moors doing utterly unprofessional things with her tongue made Aurora's breath catch. Wetting her lips, she shook her head to try to focus on the actual commander standing in front of her and not her fantasy version. Not that she would admit that she'd been fantasizing about a fellow officer, of course.

"In any case," the commander continued, "although Lieutenant Bailey can seem difficult to work with at times, I can assure you that he's a fine officer and an excellent engineer. The engineering crew knows him and will follow him without any trouble."

Reading through the records of the Lieutenant, Aurora pursed her lips in thought. She didn't see any obvious problems with him. "Alright. If you think he can do it, the position is his."

"Then I will let him know of his promotion. If that's all, Captain?"

Aurora dipped her head and the commander turned to leave. When she was just about to leave, Aurora was suddenly hit by a thought and blurted out, "Commander?"

Turning around, Moors looked at her with an eyebrow raised in question. "Yes, Captain?"

"I, ah..." Aurora faltered, unsure if the question would be too personal. Even so, she simply had to know. "In engineering... what nickname do you have?"

The commander opened her mouth minutely only to close it again. Her eyes darted off to gaze at the large windows and her lips pursed in that adorable way that Aurora in her mind dubbed "Vulcan pouting". 

"Maleficent," the commander finally said, her voice a little lower – almost huskier – than before.

"Oh," Aurora breathed, eyes wide as she unconsciously licked her lips again. That voice was awfully distracting. Realizing she was practically ogling the officer, she awkwardly cleared her throat and tore her eyes down to look at her PADD in an attempt to appear like the captain she was supposed to be. "That would be all, Commander."

Of course, her self control around Ma– Commander Moors was as bad as it got so when the doors slid open, Aurora couldn't help but look up at her. To her mortification, she wasn't met with the commander's shapely backside, but instead with an unreadable look and a smirk. A smirk! Were Vulcans even capable of smirking?

The doors slid closed and Aurora let out a shaky breath. Her cheeks burned and there was a very uncomfortable ache between her thighs. She groaned and slid down in an even less graceful position in her chair. If this was how merely a few minutes alone with Maleficent ( _Commander Moors, damn it_ ) would be, these coming weeks and months would certainly be interesting. And awfully frustrating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it is right now, I really don't know where I'll take this fic. I might just fool around and write a bunch of day in the life fluff, or make it longer and include some kind of actual plot. Suggestions are always welcome :)


	2. Who is Major Problems?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some kind of vague story is forming! Lots of treknobabble in this chapter, please tell me if anyone would like a wordlist or anything. I really don't have any clue if all you readers are as much (or more) trekkies as I am.
> 
> I'm still not entirely sure how to write Balthazar (not like I have a lot of dialogue from the movie to work with) but I hope this works.
> 
> Next chapter is in the works and it will include a certain Bajoran we've only had namedropped yet. His name starts with a 'D'...
> 
> Anyway, thanks for all the kudos and comments and bookmarks, and happy reading :)

"Lay in a course back into the nebula, Ensign," Aurora said, "warp six."

"Aye, Captain."

A muted humming filled the bridge as the ship went to warp. Aurora let out a tiny sigh in pleasure; the humming of the warp engine always calmed her down and calm was something she desperately needed. After only two days as captain, the chair and the position still felt far too large for her to fill and it was showing. She was fidgeting, squirming and shifting position too often. It wasn't much, but enough for some to notice. More than a few times, she'd caught Maleficent shoot her a reproachful look, although Maleficent hadn't voiced her misgivings. Not surprisingly, that hadn't helped with Aurora's uneasiness. Merely sitting next to the larger-than-life first officer made Aurora feel like she was disappearing down into her chair.

_Commander Moors,_ she halfheartedly corrected herself. Not that it seemed to be helping, though; ever since the commander had told Aurora her nickname, Aurora's mind had been hellbent on using it and nothing else. Luckily, she hadn't said it out loud. _Yet._

She cast a quick glance to her left where Maleficent was sitting, reading something on a PADD. She looked so natural in command, so experienced and so effortlessly collected. From what she knew from Maleficent's file, she'd been serving on various ships for many years, so the experience was certainly well deserved. Perhaps Maleficent could help her adjust to her new position? She would have to ask her about that... eventually.

Her gaze came unbidden to rest on the Vulcan's face, taking in the sharp angles and the pale skin. Frowning, she lingered on her lips for a moment. They were always so striking. Did Maleficent use makeup to highlight them or were they naturally so dark? Before she had time to ponder any more, she felt herself being watched and snapped her eyes up only to find Maleficent meeting her gaze, one eyebrow slightly hitched.

Aurora immediately turned her head forward, swallowing her embarrassment as best she could as she smoothed out her uniform. She just hoped she wasn't blushing too obviously. Why couldn't she stop ogling her fellow officers? At first, she'd thought it was a general fascination with aliens, but when neither the only Bajoran on the bridge, Lieutenant Diaval, or any of the other aliens caught her eye, she figured that perhaps she simply found Vulcans in particular interesting. After all, they'd been the first species humans ever came into contact with and that had to count for something, right? But no, once again she was proven wrong when she never found herself staring longer at any Vulcans on the ship than at anyone else. Anyone except Maleficent, that is.

So basically, she was borderline obsessed with one of the most inaccessible people on the ship. Even disregarding the potential problems regarding rank and ethics violations, Vulcans weren't exactly known for being the most cuddly and warm people in the galaxy. Devising a way to get anything more than cordial with one seemed to be an achievement worthy of the Daystrom Prize.

A sudden shiver that rocked the ship immediately pulled her out of her musings.

"Report," Maleficent commanded, a hint of a frown marring her face and her PADD instantly forgotten in her lap.

The officer at the helm – Ensign Philip Scarlett, a young man straight out of the academy – was frantically tapping on the display, shaking his head. "I have no idea, Commander. We just dropped down to warp two without warning and I can't get it any higher." He rubbed his neck, staring at the display. "It... might have something to do with the fluctuations in the power grid. I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like it."

Sharing a quick glance with Maleficent, Aurora licked her lips and tapped her combadge. "Lieutenant Bailey, is there a problem in engineering? We just lost speed." The last thing she needed was a breakdown of one or more of the ship's systems. Losing the captain had been bad enough.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I don't have time to explain, but we have to drop out of warp and shut down the core. We've got some major problems down here."

A lump in Aurora's throat made her swallow hard. Major problems on her ship was the absolutely last thing she would've wanted. "I'm on my way. Do what you need to do." Tapping the combadge again, she stood and turned to Maleficent. "I'd like you down there as well, Commander." When Maleficent only gave her a questioning look, she continued. "I've barely talked to him and you were chief engineer up until two days ago. I could use your assistance."

"Very well," Maleficent agreed after a moment of consideration, following Aurora to the turbolift.

 

* * *

 

"Commander," Aurora said as they walked to engineering, finally able to gather enough courage to ask her. "I was wondering if you, ah, would want to have lunch with me today? I mean, we're going to have to work closely together now and I– we barely know each other." She hoped it sounded as logical said out loud as it did in her head. Not that she wanted to impress the Vulcan with her logic. Definitely not.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible," Maleficent replied. "I have a previous engagement."

"Oh." She felt a mixture of disappointment and jealousy – something she knew she _definitely_ had no right to feel – and couldn't help the slight slouch of her body that the reply resulted in.

"Tonight, however, I'm am free." Maleficent glanced at Aurora with an unreadable look in her eyes. "If you're willing to have dinner instead."

"Oh! Yes, I'd like that very much," Aurora exclaimed, her beaming smile and her attempt at a stoic attitude worthy of her position warring for dominance on her face. "I mean, um, yes. I'm willing." Hearing what she just said, she wanted to smack herself. Sure, she was willing – willing like a horny teenager spreading her legs for the first tall, smoldering Vulcan that came along. This time she almost groaned; she did _not_ need images like that in her mind but they seemed to become a regular occurrence around Maleficent.

The Vulcan in question was curiously watching Aurora and the mass of emotions that crossed her face, head tilted slightly in an unspoken question. Aurora could practically hear her thoughts: _Curious little beastie. So young and illogical. Always bouncing around and feeling things. How quaint._ She shook her head, willing her blush to disappear.

"Captain, Commander," Lieutenant Bailey greeted them when they entered main engineering. He was tall and imposing but not bulky and looked like he would inflict serious bodily harm to the next person who annoyed him. If it was his usual appearance or because of the problems with the engine, Aurora wasn't sure. "We've just turned off the warp core and pulled the power from all tactical systems, most of the shields, holodecks and a few other systems. Things appear to be stable. For now."

"Get to the point, Balthazar," Maleficent told him, surprising Aurora with the unusually human phrase.

"Of course, Commander," he muttered in his hoarse voice. "In short, some of the gas we've collected from the nebula have escaped confinement and contaminated the whole power grid. We're lucky that we found it this quickly. If it reached the core, we might all have been charred remains by now."

"But we've been in the nebula for weeks," Aurora argued, her brows furrowed. "Shouldn't we have noticed something before now?" She turned to Maleficent, happy that she'd brought the former chief engineer. Engineering had never been Aurora's strong suit. "Did you know anything about this?"

Maleficent shook her head. "I've heard nothing of this before now."

"Come on, I'll show you," Balthazar told them, waving them over to a computer console. Pulling up graphics over the engine and the warp nacelles, he started to explain. "When we were in the nebula, we used the bussard collectors to take samples of the nebula's matter. The buffers," he pointed to a small area near the openings of the collectors, "are where the gas stay for a while before it's transferred to its destination: holding tanks or one of the science labs for example."

Aurora nodded, studying the graphics intensely and soaking up every word. Although she wasn't much for engineering, she had made a point of learning layout of the USS Fae until she knew the ship inside and out.

"Now, when we exited the nebula, the bussard collectors were disabled and the buffers were purged." He jabbed the screen, zooming in. "Or so we thought. Turns out the particles in the gas reacted to the purge in a way no one knew they could – at least not the ship engineers. Somehow the gas created microfractures in the isolation of the buffers. When we went back into the nebula and activated the bussard collectors again, some of the gas went through the fractures, spreading to nearby systems."

"So that's what Lieutenant Scarlett saw as fluctuations in the power grid?" Aurora asked, clenching her jaw together. "The power grid is affected?"

"Correct," Balthazar noted gruffly. "When we went to warp, the gas spread quickly throughout the power grid. We're lucky it didn't reach the core before we found out and shut it down. That shiver that pulled the warp down to two? That was the gas disabling one of the nacelles."

A shiver shot up her spine as Aurora thought of the possibility that they would've just exploded without any warning. It was chilling. "Alright. What's the plan to repair this?"

Balthazar and Maleficent exchanged looks before Balthazar turned back to Aurora. "A complete, manual purge of the whole power grid, replacing the parts of it that are too badly damaged. Before we do that, though, we'll have to replace and reinforce the isolation around the bussard collectors and do a complete sweep of the grid to find out the extent of the damage."

"How long will it take?" Aurora asked, her stomach dropping. This was supposed to be a simple mission.

"At most a few days until we can do the purge. That will take anywhere between a few hours and a few days though, and will have to be done with the power grid offline." He crossed his arms. "No main power, auxiliary or emergency power. Only battery powered generators."

"We should replicate portable lighting units and air recyclers before we turn of the power, among other things," Maleficent noted with a glance at Aurora. "And we should begin preparations as soon as possible."

"Agreed," Aurora said, barely managing to keep a quaver out of voice, her palms sweaty. "I'll make an announcement when we're back on the bridge. Send a full report to me when you have anything else, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Captain. Commander." He headed back to the warp core and Aurora and Maleficent left, walking briskly back to the bridge.

"He's one of the best engineers I've known," Maleficent said after a while, not looking at Aurora. "We will get through this unharmed."

"Yes. Of course," Aurora mumbled, eyes unfocused as her mind raced through what she would say to the crew.

" _You_ will get us through this unharmed, Captain." Maleficent's words made Aurora start and look up. "Despite your lack of experience, I find you to be a very promising officer."

"Thanks," Aurora breathed, then looked down again, chewing on her lip. "I never wanted to be captain, though. Honestly, I barely even wanted to be first officer, but I couldn't get a science position on any ship on an interesting mission." She wasn't sure she should be saying this, but she needed to tell someone. "But then I got this offer and I had to get away from– I wanted to get away." 

"Captain."

She shook her head with a wistful smile, too lost in her own mind to hear Maleficent. "And then the captain dies and the ship is dead in the water, moments away from a core breach and killing everyone on board. I should have known, or made sure it was safe, or–"

" _Captain Rose_." That, finally, caused Aurora to look up in surprise. "Neither I nor Lieutenant Bailey had foreseen this. It is on us, not on you. Do not blame yourself for things that are out of your control."

They stepped into the turbolift and Aurora nodded weakly. "I... I know. I'm sorry. I'm just... I don't know. It's all a bit overwhelming," she said quietly and shrugged.

"Indeed it is."

Something with how terse Maleficent sounded made Aurora turn her head toward her, studying the Vulcan's face intensely. Her jaws were clenched and her face was harder than usual.

"What?" Maleficent asked, voice a little sharp.

"You're a Vulcan–"

"An astute observation."

"–so you don't have to deal with any emotions, right? I mean, you have them, but you repress them. You don't _feel_ them."

Had Maleficent been human, Aurora would have said she looked vaguely uncomfortable. As it was, she wasn't sure at all what Maleficent's facial expression really meant.

"While that may be the case for Vulcans, I am only half Vulcan. My father was human." She raised an eyebrow, appearing somewhat annoyed. "Did you neglect to read my file?"

"Oh, I, ah– I'm, I mean, I _read_ it but I... must have missed that." Aurora was stammering, blushing both from missing such an important detail and from remembering why she'd missed it. The photo of Maleficent in her file had been so striking, she'd gotten a little... distracted. "I'm sorry. I should've known."

"It is alright." Maleficent paused. "Although I may appear Vulcan, I can assure you that I do have more emotions than a full Vulcan." She tilted her nose up into the air just a bit, wrinkling it in a show of disgust. "I simply don't flaunt them."

"I see." Aurora blinked, once again unable to take her eyes off of Maleficent. Images of Maleficent scowling, looking surprised, laughing and smiling flashed through her mind, leaving her with only one thought. Somehow, some day – preferably soon – she had to see Maleficent's smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did kind of want Balthazar to bark at someone. But then I decided to leaf it out.


	3. Eat while you still can

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took (much) longer than I expected, but at least I'm finally fairly happy with this chapter, plus I have a pretty detailed outline on the whole rest of the story. Expect adventure and silliness and drama as you would from a regular Star Trek episode. As it looks now, this might get up to anywhere between 10 and 20 chapters. Probably not more.
> 
> (Fun fact: in earlier iterations of this chapter, Diaval was annoying and distinctly not funny, Maleficent was about as sociable as dead rock and Aurora was borderline hysteric and wielding a knife. She isn't allowed around knives anymore.)
> 
> Also (shameless self-promotion!) you can find me on tumblr, if you wish, at [nyczsq.tumblr.com](http://nyczsq.tumblr.com)
> 
> Happy reading, and sorry for making you all wait so long!

The mess hall was predictably full and lively at lunchtime, but it didn't bother Maleficent much. What did bother her was Lieutenant Diaval's inability to show up on time to lunch. To make matters worse, she suspected that he was only doing it to annoy her.

A few minutes later (and several minutes _late_ ) the lieutenant walked through the doors to the mess hall. After getting his lunch from the replicator, he sought out Maleficent's table and sat down, ignoring the glare she threw at him.

"You're late," Maleficent noted, cocking an eyebrow at him, "as usual."

"Busy day on the bridge. New first officer and everything," Diaval noted distractedly, taking a bite of his hasperat. Chewing on it, he shook his head. "They never get the spices right on these things. What is it with humans and spices," he mumbled.

Maleficent gave him a disapproving look but didn't reply, instead turning her attention to her own meal. Minutes passed as they ate in silence, but Maleficent could feel the tension in the air. Looking up, she found Diaval staring at her expectantly.

"What?" she said flatly.

Diaval swallowed quickly. "So you're just going to pretend like nothing happened?"

"I wasn't aware that you suddenly had developed an interest in the inner workings of the power grid."

"Really funny. I'm talking about you suddenly being in command." When Maleficent didn't seem to have any intention to respond, he continued. "You've been avoiding promotions for years now, ever since the incident at–"

"I don't wish to speak about that, _lieutenant_ ," Maleficent snapped, "as I have made very clear several times." She paused, as if she was about to continue her meal, but then put down her fork with a terse sigh. "Seeing how the captain is still fairly inexperienced, she needed an experienced first officer. I was the logical choice."

"That's what your going with? 'It's logical'?"

"As much as I would like to avoid these kinds of promotions, it would be extremely irresponsible for me to turn it down this time with so few appropriate alternatives for Captain Rose to choose from."

Narrowing his eyes, Diaval leaned back in his chair but said nothing. A few seconds passed before he turned back to his food and for a while, Maleficent thought that was the end of the conversation. But of course, he had to pry.

"So, the captain," he said slowly, "what did she say to convince you?"

Maleficent had to make an effort not to roll her eyes. Sometimes Diaval really managed to bring out the human in her. "She asked me to take the post."

"She _asked_ you," Diaval muttered incredulously. "You know, sometimes I truly don't understand you. People have asked you countless times before and you've always rejected them. What's so special about her?"

"I don't wish to talk about it," Maleficent said, her voice low and a hint of a frown marring her forehead. To be honest, she wasn't actually sure. Something was undoubtedly special about the young captain, or the conversation in her ready room that day would have been very different.

_"Captain. I assume you're here to discuss the vacant position of first officer?"_

_"You're the most qualified officer on the ship and I need a first officer. I want you on the bridge."_

_"I'm afraid I'll have to decline."_

_"Why?"_

_"My reasons are my own, Captain. I do not wish to share them."_

She had gone to the captain's ready room, intent on saying exactly that, but the conversation hadn't turn out like that at all. In fact, when Captain Rose had deflated like a popped balloon after her initial remark, Maleficent quickly decided that – for some _emotional_ reason – she would have to accept the promotion. So she quickly reversed position completely, saying something ridiculous about differences in promotions. Of course her refusal to be promoted was a "sign of general reluctance" for higher positions in Starfleet; she had avoided them like the Terrellian plague for years. Yet one young and eager captain made her toss all that out the airlock after a grand total of ten seconds in her company.

It was by far one of the most illogical things she had found herself doing. In retrospect, it wasn't entirely surprising, however. She had noticed how her human side often surfaced more around Captain Rose well before either of them got promoted. The young woman had a way of pulling Maleficent out of her shell that – while she found it unsettling at times – she couldn't honestly say she didn't enjoy, to some extent at least. It was rather strange.

Diaval looked like he wanted to continue, but changed his mind, giving Maleficent a strange look. Then he shook his head and took another bite of his lunch. "Well, speaking of the power grid. Do you know how long it will be offline?"

Thankful for the change of topic, Maleficent replied, "I spoke to Balthazar before I came here. He said they can't be sure of the extent of the damage until they can check manually when the power is offline. His estimations was anything from a few hours to several days."

"That's just wonderful," he muttered. "Living off emergency rations. How I've missed it."

Maleficent said nothing, only wondering to herself what the captain would be able to make for dinner that evening.

 

* * *

 

The walk to the captain's quarters was a gloomier than usual, with only the dim auxiliary lights illuminating the corridors. At least the turbolifts were still running. Maleficent had never enjoyed crawling through the Jeffries tubes; they were small and cramped, especially on a small Nova class starship like the USS Fae. Although, who _did_ enjoy Jeffries tubes, really?

A hint of a smile touched her lips as an image of a certain captain eagerly exploring every nook and cranny of the ship came up in her mind. Yes, Captain Rose was perhaps the only one – with a sound mind, at least – that Maleficent knew who might actually enjoy crawling around in Jeffries tubes. From what Maleficent had seen of the captain, she'd been intrigued by almost everything from the first moment she arrived on board the ship. She seemed to have a will to learn and experience new things rivaling the intensity of the Ferengi's greed and the Klingons' lust for combat.

The thought of her captain pulled Maleficent's mind back to the dinner at hand. She wasn't entirely sure why she had agreed to it in the first place – scratch that, she knew perfectly well, she just couldn't explain it, at least not to another Vulcan. She let out an annoyed puff of breath. _Emotions_. Such a confusing, complicating concept. Looking fully Vulcan while being half human certainly didn't help, as her human nature often made it difficult for her to keep the Vulcan stoicism and peace of mind that was expected of her. She was human, she was Vulcan, yet she was neither. One thing was certain, however: the captain was very difficult to say no to.

As she stopped in front of the captain's quarters, she purged the confusing thoughts from her mind. She was here to have dinner, not to psychoanalyze herself. It was just a dinner to increase familiarity between two senior officers who were going to be working closely together. With her mind temporarily at ease, she pressed the doorbell and waited.

When the door opened, she was met with a rather frazzled Captain Rose standing in the doorway, cheeks rosy and her blonde hair a mess of tangled locks that tumbled down her shoulders. It fit her, Maleficent decided with some amusement, being as bright and irregular as the captain herself.

"Oh, Commander!" the captain greeted, her expression apparently unable to choose between elation and surprise. "I didn't expect you to be so punc– oh, ah, never mind. I'm almost done with dinner. Please come in!"

Maleficent stepped inside and took in the room, letting her eyes sweep over the interior. Living candles were placed on nearly all flat surfaces throughout the room, bathing everything in a soft, warm light. Although the room itself was fairly sparsely decorated when it came to furniture, the walls were covered with paintings and various decorations, most of them clearly not human in origin. It only further cemented her belief that Captain Rose was quite different from most humans she'd met before. She had to admit, the captain intrigued her.

"I'm making dinner, but with the replicators offline I've had to freshen up my cooking skills. And then," Aurora waved her hand at the room, "I had to find these candles because I really can't stand the light cells or the emergency lighting. So I'm sorry if I look a little stressed."

"It's quite alright, Captain," Maleficent said with a slight nod. "I must say I approve of your lighting choices. Living candles are highly underrated."

Aurora's face lit up with a smile that quickly turned into a wince. "I'm– I know this probably violates several Starfleet regulations, but could you maybe... not call me 'captain'?" When Maleficent merely raised an eyebrow, she continued. "I mean, only when we're alone. And I know we're not exactly friends or even acquainted, really, but we're–" She stopped abruptly, taking a deep breath. "You've served in Starfleet longer than I've lived, I think, and I've barely graduated from the academy. I'd like if this would be more... off the record. Just you and me, not as captain and first officer but Aurora and Mal– um, I mean, ah." Wincing again, she shook her head and sighed. "I probably shouldn't talk before dinner. Why don't you just, ah, forget this conversation and have a seat at the table."

"Very well," Maleficent agreed, only to add, "Aurora," after a moment's consideration. She was here to further relations between her and the captain and if that meant using her name, it obviously was the logical choice. She promptly ignored the gleeful voice in the back of her head that noted that she'd never done that for anyone except Diaval, Balthazar and a few others, all following years of using their titles.

The subsequent blush was clear even in the dim candlelight and Aurora hurried over to the kitchen area following a few incoherent, stammering remarks. As the young woman continued preparing the food, Maleficent studied her with a curious expression. For some reason, Aurora always seemed nervous around her. It was rather odd, seeing how easily she interacted with the rest of the crew, non-humans included. Perhaps she'd heard about or noticed Maleficent cynical manners and it made her uncomfortable? After all, Maleficent wasn't exactly known for her friendly demeanor, even by Vulcan standards. Not that she'd ever exposed Aurora all that much to it.

Aurora returned to the table with a few bowls, interrupting her musings. "So since the replicators are offline I figured I'd make something from scratch instead." Putting the bowls down, she was just about to speak when Maleficent interrupted her.

"Is this jok'olan salad?" Maleficent asked, surprised at seeing a Vulcan dish served. Most humans found their food a bit too bland for their taste.

Aurora beamed at Maleficent as she sat down at the table, across from Maleficent. "It is! I thought it would be nice to try it since I can't really serve anything hot without the replicators anyway. I hope you enjoy it."

She did enjoy it, surprisingly enough. The salad was tastefully bland, the ingredients crisp and well prepared. She hadn't expected it made so close to the original Vulcan recipe. Most non-Vulcans usually added something – or a lot – of their own. As much as variation was enjoyable from time to time, sometimes the original truly was the best.

"Did you like it?" Aurora asked, seeing how Maleficent helped herself to more of the salad.

"It is quite delectable. I was surprised at how authentic you have made it. I would not have known it wasn't made by a Vulcan."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Thank you," Aurora exclaimed, basking in the praise. "I did a lot of research to get this right, you know. I never knew Vulcans were so meticulous when it comes to food. How to cut the ingredients, the special kinds of oil to use, what parts to use and not to use. It was very exciting!"

Maleficent gave her a curious look. "I wasn't aware you found Vulcan cuisine so fascinating."

"I find everything alien fascinating," Aurora explained excitedly. "Especially Vulcan culture – there's so much to learn! Most people just hear about the lack of emotions and then that's it. Some of my fellow cadets even thought that all Vulcans do is to sit around and meditate about logic all day. But there's so much _more_! That's why I find you so interesting." She blinked. "I mean, not specifically _you_ – although I do find you very interesting too – but not, you know..." Deflating slightly, she stopped her rambling and looked down at her lap, her blush coming back with vengeance. When she looked up again, she was just about to say something when she closed her mouth and frowned, tilting her head inquisitively. "Are you smiling, Commander?"

"Absolutely not," Maleficent denied, willfully ignoring the smile that had played on her lips ever since Aurora had begun her amusing chatter. "And please, call me Maleficent."

For a brief moment, Maleficent worried that Aurora would either suffer some form of brain injury or leap over the table to hug her, but luckily, neither happened. Instead, Aurora just smiled, a smile so bright that it made Maleficent wonder if the candles were really necessary.

 

* * *

 

The dinner continued with pleasant, lighthearted conversation mixed with comfortable silence and occasional bouts of rambling and blushing on Aurora's part. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening, even though Maleficent often found herself annoyed at her lack of emotional control. Aurora was and continued to be the one person she couldn't keep her stoic front up towards, despite her continued efforts. It was just so _easy_ to let her lips curl up in a smile when Aurora spoke of her interest in the intricacies of some alien culture or something similar; she barely even noticed it until she sat there and grinned like an idiot. Bah.

It wasn't until near midnight that Maleficent finally decided to call it a night. Staying after midnight would not set a good standard for other officers, especially since they both had shifts the next morning. Lingering in the doorway, she was unsure of how to proceed. Leaving with only a hurried goodbye felt a little too abrupt.

"I really had a good time, Com– Maleficent," Aurora said, a comfortable smile playing on her lips.

Maleficent acknowledged it with a gentle nod, trying not to get too distracted by the way Aurora's hair glowed in the candlelight. Why she even noticed it was beyond her comprehension. "As did I."

Aurora's eyes flitted down to the floor, then around the room before coming back to meet Maleficent's. "I... would love to do it again some day." She wrung her hands nervously.

Maleficent's first thought was to accept. But was that really a responsible choice? Cultivating her friendship – surely after this evening, it had to be called that – with the captain could lead to problems if their relationship interfered with their posts. On the other hand, increased social interactions between officers often led to better performance, especially on a small ship like this. Taking into account Aurora's limited experience as well, an increased familiarity between them might make it easier for Maleficent to make suggestions regarding command decisions. Satisfied with her logic, she replied, "I believe I would like that as well."

"Wonderful," Aurora replied, her smile wide and bright. 

"Good night, Aurora."

"Good night," Aurora said with a little nod and added, "until next time."

For some reason, Maleficent found it difficult to concentrate on anything that night, with images of blond hair and beaming smiles distracting her when she tried to meditate. Finally, she gave up and went to bed instead. Meditation would simply have to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the folks who aren't into Star Trek all that much:
> 
> Hasperan is a kind of food, similar to a burrito.  
> Klingons and Ferengi are other humanoid races.  
> Jok'olan salad is a salad I made up. I hope it tastes as good as I wrote it.  
> Also (I don't think I've mentioned this?) Vulcans (including half-Vulcans) live much longer than humans. Just something to keep in mind.
> 
> If you want to know more about Star Trek-y things I sneak in, check out [memory-alpha.org](http://en.memory-alpha.org/). It's where I get most of my info from.


	4. Your touch feels like a pile of blankets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than usual because I'm completely incompetent when it comes to keeping it brief. I'll try to keep the chapters around 2-3k words, but some may (obviously) get longer.
> 
> All errors are my own since I don't have a beta. Hopefully they're not too many.
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting! Enjoy :)

It was two days after Maleficent's and Aurora's shared dinner and since then even more systems had been taken offline. Weapons, shields, holodecks and transporters were all offline, leaving only the most vital systems running. And with no systems to manage, most of the bride staff had been transferred to other parts of the ship to assist with repairs. Despite the calm that reigned on the bridge, Maleficent couldn't seem to concentrate on anything. She was sure this was the third time she'd read the same sentence, something about the rerouting power through secondary and tertiary relays... 

Resisting the urge to drum her fingers on the armrest, she glanced towards the helm. The helmsman – Ensign Philip Scarlett – was still chatting with the captain, both appearing to have an enjoyable time together. Maleficent didn't like him much. He always seemed to want to be physically close to the captain, talking and laughing and giving Maleficent a headache. Although he never explicitly violated any regulations, she felt it to be quite improper for an ensign to seek to form a close relationship with the captain, citing the risks of unfair treatment and conflicts of interest.

Ensign Scarlett suddenly laughed, presumably at something Aurora had said, and scooted a little closer, sitting on the very edge of the chair. Maleficent narrowed her eyes at the view. _Definitely conduct unbecoming an officer._

After a few minutes their conversation finally come to a close, with Aurora leaving the helm with a parting smile. Ensign Scarlett, clearly ignorant of Starfleet protocol, let his eyes linger for a moment longer at the captain's form before a nearly inaudible cough from Maleficent made him turn towards her. His eyes met her hard gaze and he blinked, clearly surprised by her disapproving expression. Shifting his eyes nervously between Maleficent and Aurora, he then turned back around fast enough for the chair to squeak in displeasure.

Maleficent glared at his back for a few more seconds before leaning back and picking up her PADD again. Maybe _now_ she could get some work done.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him, Commander," came Aurora's soft and low voice, scolding her.

Maleficent looked up from her PADD, an eyebrow raised in silent question.

Aurora just returned her look, nodding her head towards the helm. "You were staring at him as if he was some kind of war criminal. This is his first post on a starship, you know."

"I'm aware," Maleficent replied flatly. His inexperience did not make her dislike his blatant disregard for the chain of command any less.

"He just seemed so nervous around me, I figured it'd be good to get to know him a little better." A mischievous smirk made its way onto her lips. "Didn't you say something about 'increasing familiarity in the workplace' the other day?"

Although she saw the mirth in Aurora's eyes, the words still felt rather distasteful on her tongue. "Of course." With a final glare at Ensign Scarlett, she turned her attention back to her PADD. She had work to do.

Suddenly, Maleficent felt a soft hand cover her own and then felt a hint of Aurora's warm breath on her cheek. 

"Don't worry," Aurora whispered conspiratorially, "I still like you more than him."

Maleficent stared at her PADD, her mind having all but gone offline from Aurora's touch and her close proximity. This was why she didn't let people touch her: it only served as a distraction. A vaguely pleasant one, perhaps, but still a distraction.

Then she heard Aurora giggle and the breath on her cheek grew hotter as Aurora leaned closer. "And not just because of your ears," Aurora added. After another second, Aurora sat back in her chair, leaving Maleficent confused and speechless. Speechless because her mind apparently needed a lot of time to recover from the captain's touch and confused... confused because she realized she already missed the warmth. And what was it with humans and Vulcan ears?

She glanced over at Aurora who seemed entirely unfazed except for a faint blush coloring her cheeks. Looking back at her PADD, she shook her head. As always, Aurora's presence was an unpredictable and strange factor that seemed to defy logic. How she was supposed to work with Aurora while maintaining an adequate work standard was very unclear. Perhaps she could speak with her about some boundaries for their relationship. No physical contact, no conspiratorial whispering. Needless to say, her human parts did not approve of the proposed boundaries.

With a sigh, she put down her PADD and got to her feet. She would obviously not get anything done here. 

"I will see if I can assist with the repairs in engineering," she announced to the captain.

"Oh, okay," Aurora replied, her face dropping almost imperceptibly. "Keep me posted."

Maleficent nodded and headed for the turbolift, pushing aside all thoughts of the captain for now.

 

* * *

 

In stark contrast to the nearly deserted bridge, engineering was bustling with life. Officers with any form of engineering training or other useful skills had been called in to help with the purging of the compromised systems as the systems they had originally been assigned to had gone offline.

"Balthazar," she said as she entered. The chief engineer was leaning over a console, tapping sporadically at the screen.

Glancing up, he gave a quick nod to Maleficent before turning back to the console. "Maleficent. Good. I was about to contact you."

"Oh?"

"We need to shut down the last non-essential systems soon to make the final shutdown as short as possible." Gesturing for Maleficent to step closer, he gestured at the screen where several numbers were listed. "During the final purge we'll have to do a complete blackout, including life support and at minimal, it'll take about ten hours." 

Maleficent frowned slightly. "That sounds reasonable."

"Yeah," he grunted, tapping a few buttons on the console. A chart came up on the screen. "Problem is, either we turn off all non-essential systems right now and spend the night with only partial life support while we clean what we can, or the purge might take more time than we have." Another few taps and the chart changed. "Meaning that purging all the systems tomorrow will take more time than it takes for the atmosphere to become impossible to work in, even with oxygen masks. We'd have to evacuate to the shuttles and possibly the escape pods for... hell, I don't know how long. Moving around in environmental suits is bad enough, trying to _work_ in them is a complete mess, so estimating how long it'll take to complete the purge in those is nearly impossible."

"I take it you've taken into account using portable heating units?"

Balthazar nodded. "And closing all vents. We've still got to take life support offline on nearly half the decks if we want to make it in time without evacuating the ship."

"I'm starting to reconsider our decision not to ask Starfleet for towing assistance," Maleficent muttered. Moving the crew between decks was better than evacuating to escape pods, but in this case 'better' was by no means 'good'.

"We both know that wouldn't do any good," Balthazar huffed. "Say they actually find a ship this month? It would still take years to tow us out on impulse power. We might as well get out and push."

"Or we could attempt to tow the ship at warp." Her lips curled up in a hint of smile. "And then enjoy the fireworks." Without a functioning warp drive, they would be torn apart by the warp field itself. Even getting to warp one in one piece would be a nearly impossible task.

A matching smile played on Balthazar's lips. "True." He shook his head and glared at the screen. "No, we're alone on this one."

Maleficent stepped up to the console and ran her fingers over it, entering a few commands. "Which systems would have to be shut down?"

Balthazar rubbed his neck. "Pretty much everything. Turbo lifts, the deflector, thrusters, sensors, subspace communications, auxiliary lighting, inertial dampeners and parts of life support. That leaves partial life support, ship-wide communications, emergency lighting and... that's it. We'd have to empty a few decks, everyone would have to share cabins and the hull would probably take some damage, but we wouldn't have to evacuate the ship."

Maleficent nodded. "It would seem to be the best course of action, considering the alternatives." She paused. "I doubt the captain will enjoy the news, though." Maleficent wasn't particularly excited to break the news to her, either.

"Not something I'd want on my hands after a few days on the job, no," Balthazar agreed.

A somewhat gloomy silence fell between the two officers as they were both lost in their own thought.

Finally, Maleficent spoke up. "In any case, is there something I can assist with while I'm down here?" At Balthazar's odd look, she explained, "There is not much for me to do on the bridge other than reading status reports."

Balthazar gave her a wry grin but didn't comment. "Fenrir is running simulations of the purge to optimize the process and hopefully shave off an hour or so. If you'd like to help..." He left the invitation hanging in the air, gesturing in the direction of an officer on the other side of engineering who was bent over a console, tapping rapidly.

"I'll see what I can do," Maleficent agreed.

 

* * *

 

It was late afternoon when Aurora heard the turbolift doors slide open, interrupting the quiet stillness that filled the bridge. All bridge officers except the captain herself had left to help with the evacuation of the decks that was about to lose life support. Only Aurora was still there, reading reports in the darkness.

"Captain," came the low greeting as Maleficent sat down in her chair, next to Aurora.

"Commander," Aurora replied, relaxing a bit. She was by no means afraid of the dark, but sitting alone on the deserted bridge with only a PADD and the dim emergency lights to keep her company was nothing she enjoyed.

On the other hand, she worried that Maleficent might still be upset from Aurora touching her. She wasn't entirely sure what had gotten into her back there, telling Maleficent that she "liked her", like some kid in preschool. It had been ridiculous to think that Maleficent had actually been jealous, despite how much it had looked that way to Aurora, but she hadn't been able to resist teasing Maleficent about it anyway.

Licking her lips, Aurora tentatively said, "I... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. Before you left for engineering. I didn't mean anything by it." Maybe not the complete truth, but it was close enough.

Maleficent opened her mouth as if to speak, then frowned and closed it again. Letting out a puff of breath, her posture deflated just a little. "It's quite alright. My departure was... unrelated. I required something to occupy my mind with."

"I'm glad." Aurora couldn't stop her small relieved smile. Cocking her head to the side, she gave Maleficent a look. "Although, I do like your ears," she muttered absentmindedly, too late realizing she had said it out loud.

Maleficent's eyebrow rose. "It seems a common occurrence among humans." Shaking her head minutely – Aurora thought of it as her way of saying "silly humans" without _actually_ saying it – she straightened and continued, "I take it you've looked over Balthazar's plan for tonight and tomorrow?"

Aurora nodded. "Yes, it looks good." She shivered, putting down her PADD and rubbing her hands together. When had it gotten so cold?

"How long have you been sitting here?" Maleficent asked, turning to look at her more closely.

"A few hours, probably?" Aurora shrugged. "Since you left for engineering, I think."

"And you are aware that life support is only running on partial power?"

Aurora got the feeling that she was hearing Maleficent's you-are-an-idiot-voice. Reserved only for the mentally deficient, small children and the captain of the USS Fae. She felt her cheeks heat up. "Well, yes, of course." So maybe she hadn't actually _done_ anything about it, but she _had_ read the report.

Maleficent looked at her for a few more seconds, before she shook her head and got to her feet. A moment later she came back with a bundle of fabric in her arms. "Stand up."

"But–"

A hind of annoyance flashed over the otherwise stoic woman's face. "You need to get warm. I will not have my captain incapacitated by a combination of insufficient planning and completely preventable hypothermia."

"What?" Aurora blinked. Had Maleficent just called her "my captain"? Although, it was common phrase, no? But the way she said it...

Realizing that her mind were going places it definitely shouldn't and that Maleficent was still waiting, she reluctantly got to her feet, completely forgetting the PADD in her lap. It fell down, skidding over to stop at the base of the helm. She was about to step forward and pick it up when a firm, yet gentle hand on her arm stopped her.

"I will get that for you, Captain. Now stand still." Without further ado, Maleficent wrapped the fabric – where had she found a blanket? – around Aurora, making sure that she still could get her hands out and then gently deposited Aurora back down into her seat. Aurora could swear she even saw a little smirk on Maleficent's lips when Aurora finally was seated.

Attempting to regain some of her dignity, Aurora huffed and shifted herself into a position that was more "captain" and less "ridiculous pile of blankets". "Would you mind getting my PADD for me, _Commander_?" she asked, her nose a little higher in the air than usual.

"Of course. _Captain_ ," Maleficent replied with a twinkle in her eyes that spoke volumes of how seriously she took Aurora. Obviously, pulling rank was getting Aurora nowhere.

Aurora snatched back her PADD when Maleficent offered it, trying to hold on to her indignant mood. Wrapped in a huge, warm blanket and staring into Maleficent's sparkling eyes, though, she found it almost impossible. With a sigh, she gave up all hopes of dignity and grace and instead turned her attention to her PADD.

"So, Balthazar should have turned off everything by now, right?" she asked, looking through the report once more.

"He indicated that he would wait until I had left to power down the turbolifts, the deflector and the inertial dampeners. We should feel the effects soon, I believe."

"Oh." Aurora frowned, tapping on her PADD. "Good thing we'll only–"

The ship suddenly rumbled and the last of the usual humming on the bridge died down. The silence was eerie, but was soon interrupted by the echoing sounds of meteoroids and micrometeorids hitting the hull.

"Soon, indeed," Maleficent mumbled.

"As I was saying–" Aurora winced as an especially loud clunk echoed through the bridge, "–it's a good thing we'll only be without the navigational shield for a day. Hopefully, those meteoroids will only scratch the painting. We really can't afford a hull breach." Without emergency power online no force fields would be available to stop a breach. Whole decks could be vented into space in a matter of minutes, should the worst happen. She took a deep breath and tried to will away the worry.

"I doubt you have to worry, Captain. We haven't detected any meteoroids large enough to breach the hull, so it's highly unlikely the damage will be anything more than superficial," Maleficent assured her. "Still, I strongly recommend we head for Utopia Planitia as soon as we are clear of the nebula."

Aurora nodded and leaned back, letting her PADD fall down in her lap. She was exhausted. Not that she had done anything physically tiring all day, but just... she was in charge. Her crew looked to her to lead them and to find and take the best course of action in difficult situations. It drained her, thinking and deciding and worrying. What if the purge took longer than expected? What if there was an accident while the comm system was down? What if–

"Are you feeling warmer yet, Captain?" Maleficent abruptly interrupted her unpleasant thoughts.

"Hm? Oh," Aurora replied, looking down at the large blanket still wrapped around her body. "Yes, much warmer." She smiled back at Maleficent. "Thank you." In any case, she was glad to have Maleficent as her first officer. The Vulcan brought a certain peace and calm to most situations that Aurora greatly appreciated.

"Good," Maleficent murmured, steadily meeting Aurora's gaze.

After a few moments of silence, Aurora averted her eyes, a little flustered. She had yet to meet another person – Vulcan or not – with as intense eyes as Maleficent.

Frowning, she suddenly remembered something. "Maleficent, about the evacuation..." she said slowly, going through the report on her PADD to find the part she was looking for.

"Yes?"

Aurora frowned at the PADD. "You placed us in the same quarters. In my quarters." She'd read it hours earlier when she first got it, of course, but it hadn't really registered in her mind. Living assignments had been the least of her worries when the rest of the report was about meteoroids, hull damage, backup plans and emergencies.

"Yes."

"Oh." Pause. She was sure Maleficent could hear the cogs in her mind turn. "So, we're sleeping together tonight." Her cheeks heated up as if they'd been hit by a phaser blast. "Not like– I mean, this evening in the same quarters, until the systems are back online and your deck – where you live – has life support again. Right?" She wasn't entirely sure what she'd just said, but she was fairly certain that Maleficent could decipher it.

"Yes." Maleficent lifted an eyebrow. "We're close in rank, we know each other well enough and we both have expressed interest in further socialization. It was the logical choice."

Aurora blinked, absentmindedly agreeing. "Right, right. Of course." Spending the night with Maleficent. In the same room as Maleficent.

She was going to go insane.

"We could always modify the arrangements. You could share a room with the doctor–"

"What? No!" Aurora exclaimed, surprising both her and Maleficent. "I mean, no. That won't be necessary. We can't just go around making changes without any reasons like that." She paused, trying not to picture Maleficent with less clothing. Or Maleficent with bedhead. Or just about any other scenario her dirty mind could come up with that included Maleficent. "No, like you said, it's logical. It's a logical choice." Saying it like that, she could almost believe it herself.

"Very well," Maleficent agreed, her lips curling up almost imperceptibly. "Perhaps we could share dinner again tonight, then. I hear the emergency rations are wonderful this time of year."

Letting out a little giggle, Aurora let herself relax. I she was going to go insane tonight, she couldn't have wished for a better companion. "That sounds wonderful." She grinned. "I'll make dinner, you bring the wine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my mind, the blanket is an Official Starfleet Emergency Heating Blanket, stashed behind some panel on the bridge. It just feels like something Starfleet would provide in case of heating failure.
> 
>  
> 
> For people who don't read Star Trek wikipages at breakfast:
> 
> Utopia Planitia is a shipyard orbiting Mars where a lot of Starfleet ships are built/refitted/repaired.  
> The navigational shield is not meant to stop weapons fire, but instead lesser interstellar particles and objects (small asteroids, meteoroids, junk) from hitting the hull.
> 
> The other systems mentioned are as of yet not really relevant to the story. (Unless I forgot something.) You can read about them on Memory Alpha if you feel like it.


	5. Cozy places and tight spaces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I think of it, the chapter title sounds kind of dirty. Sorry, no mature rating (yet)!
> 
> **Little word list for the non-initiated:**  
>  Synthehol is/tastes like alchohol but most races (including Vulcans and humans) won't get drunk from it.  
> The war that is mentioned is the Dominion War (2373-2375) that even included attacks on Earth. It pitted the Federation and its allies against the Dominion, a race from far away parts of the galaxy. The Federation ultimately won the war.
> 
> **Notes for the nerdier folks:**  
>  Technically, the gravity plating should go offline about four hours after the power is gone, but (although I don't explicitly mention it) in my mind, portable generators have been put on the decks that are still in use. The crew can't really be bothered to deal with zero gravity anyway. Nor can I.
> 
> Enjoy!

The candles were lit, the room was cleaned and her hair was moderately tamed. Everything was as much in order as it could get, but it didn't stop Aurora from being nervous, her palms sweaty, flitting around to fix a thing here, move a thing there. The spare bed that had been put there a few hours earlier was standing in a corner, hopefully giving Maleficent at least a semblance of privacy.

A knock on the door made her stop in her tracks. Giving the room a last critical look, she hurried over to the door, wiping her palms on her thighs. She fiddled for a moment with the portable generator that powered the door, muttering a few curses under her breath. Still, it was better than having to pry open the door manually. The generator came online with a hum and Aurora quickly jammed her finger on the door button.

"Maleficent," Aurora said brightly as the tall Vulcan came into view, her face lit up from the warm candlelight. She looked down at Maleficent's hands and frowned. "Is that wine?" she asked incredulously, eyes snapping back up to Maleficent's face.

"Indeed it is. I did say I would bring it, did I not?" An faint but playful smile was pulling on her lips as she handed over the bottle. "It is only synthehol, but I've heard it goes very well with emergency rations."

Aurora huffed but returned the smile. "I suppose the two most senior officers getting drunk the night before a critical mission wouldn't be particularly smart." She shook her head in amusement, walking back into the room to place the bottle on the table by the sofa, mumbling, "I can't believe you actually brought wine." A shiver made its way through her body, suddenly reminding her of just how cold it was.

Maleficent sighed. "Are you cold again?"

"No! I mean, a little?" Aurora winced. "I wasn't cold before, when I was running around and cleaning up. Not that I was really _running_ , though. Of course." To her own annoyance, she shivered again. "Maybe I'm a _little_ cold," she muttered. After a few moments of staring back at Maleficent's pointed expression, she gave up. "Fine. I'll go get a blanket. Make yourself at home; they had to take away the table to make space for your bed," she explained, gesturing towards the sofa.

When Aurora returned with a large blanket from her bed, Maleficent was sitting in the sofa, two filled wineglasses ready on the table in front of her. Aurora sat down next to her, pulling the blanket close. Sticking her hand out past the crumpled layers of fabric, she happily accepted the proffered glass Maleficent held. Their fingers brushed against each other, making her stop and frown at Maleficent. 

"Your fingers are ice-cold," she accused, narrowing her eyes at Maleficent. "You're freezing too, aren't you?"

"I'm perfectly fine," Maleficent assured her, only to shiver visibly as soon as the words had left her mouth.

"I can't believe this," Aurora muttered, putting down her glass on the table. Letting out an irritated huff, she unwrapped herself of the blanket and held it up, motioning for Maleficent to join her. "It was your idea to get warm, _Commander_. Don't make me order you in here." She wasn't sure where she suddenly was getting the confidence to more or less order Maleficent to cuddle under a blanket with her, but she was determined to use every second of it.

Maleficent opened her mouth to speak, but then apparently changed her mind, pursing her lips in displeasure. Aurora nearly giggled at the sight of Maleficent's pout coming back in full force. "Very well, _Captain_ ," Maleficent acquiesced, scooting closer to Aurora and wrapping half the blanket around herself. "Is this to your satisfaction?" Her voice was anything but accommodating.

"I think," Aurora hummed, closing what little distance there was left between them in another act of sudden confidence, "this will be just perfect." She cuddled up to Maleficent, unable to stop the unrepentant grin that spread across her face. "We'll get warm in no time."

Maleficent scoffed but made no move to distance herself from the cuddly captain.

They ate in relative silence for a while, their sparse dialogue accompanied by the irregular sounds of meteoroids hitting the hull. After a particularly loud hit, Aurora flinched, unconsciously huddling closer to Maleficent.

"There is no reason to fear, Aurora," Maleficent assured her in a low voice. "The hull is well equipped to withstand anything that may hit it."

"I know, it's not that," Aurora mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat up. "I... I don't want it to get hurt."

Maleficent tilted her head slightly and gave Aurora a strange look. "The ship isn't sentient. It can't 'get hurt'. It can't feel anything."

"I know," Aurora groaned, covering her face in her hands as her cheeks burned even hotter. "But I still feel for it. I mean, it just wants to travel the galaxy, exploring and studying– oh, never mind," she muttered when she saw the first hints of an amused smile make its way onto Maleficent's lips. "I'm human, I'm allowed to be illogical."

"Indeed," Maleficent murmured, hiding her smile behind another sip of her wine.

Aurora just huffed, downing the rest of her own wine. Putting the glass back down, she gave it an odd look. "You know, this wine really does go well with emergency rations. I mean, to the extent anything makes rations taste better." She turned to shoot a suspicious glance up at Maleficent.

"That is what I said, isn't it?" Maleficent asked airily. "Don't you listen to me, Captain?" Her outraged expression – outraged for a Vulcan, that is – didn't convince Aurora for second. "I'm offended," she deadpanned.

"Sure you are," Aurora replied, holding out her glass when Maleficent offered to refill it.

Silence fell as neither of them had anything in particular to say, only sipping their wine as mute sounds told of the rocks that struck the hull.

"I guess... I'm a little more protective of this ship since it's a science vessel," Aurora said quietly after a while, leaning her head against Maleficent's shoulder. "During the war, so many were refitted with more weapons and more stronger shields, to the expense of science labs and, well, anything not designed to blow stuff up." She paused and chewed thoughtfully on her lip. "Starfleet is going back to exploration and science now, but there are still so relatively few ships left that aren't equipped for war. Like this."

"The Federation, and in turn Starfleet, was built upon the principles of peace and exploration; a full scale war is an alien concept to them," Maleficent mused. "I don't think anyone really knows how to handle the aftermath of it."

"Yeah," Aurora agreed with a sigh, feeling the mood in the air dropping like a stone. "I'm just glad it's over. I didn't serve in any battles, but still..." She quieted, wondering if she dared – or should – ask her next question. Finally, she gave in to her curiosity. "Were– did you... serve?"

At first, Maleficent said nothing, her body tensing. Then, when Aurora was sure all she would get would be a cold glare and a dismissal, Maleficent replied, her voice barely audible. "Yes. In several battles."

Staring up at the woman beside her, Aurora's mouth formed a perfect 'o'. "Oh," she breathed, instinctively placing her hand on top of Maleficent's, squeezing softly. "As chief engineer?" Despite the warning voices that told her not to pry too much, she wanted to know more, to try to unwrap at least part of the mysterious woman.

Hurt flashed over Maleficent's eyes and she bent her head slightly, eyes cast down. "I was captain, in command of the– of a ship. Diaval was my first officer."

The question "which ship" was on the tip of Aurora's tongue, but she held it back. If Maleficent didn't want to tell her, she had a reason for it and it wasn't Aurora's place to ask. "Was it... big?" she blurted out, the first question that came to mind. She winced, immediately feeling ridiculous. What kind of a question was that? Still, it made a ghost of a smile tug on Maleficent's lips, pushing away the darkness for a moment.

"It was big," Maleficent agreed with a nod, absentmindedly stroking Aurora's hand that still lay in her lap atop her own. "It was strong and had one of the best crews I have ever served with." The smile faded away and her eyes became unfocused. "They were loyal and brave, every last one of them. And they never failed me, not even once." She swallowed, her eyes resting on Aurora's hand as her free hand traced meaningless patterns on her skin. "I could trust them. I..." She faltered and closed her mouth, shaking her head.

Aurora's heart clenched, seeing the pain on Maleficent's face. Although she could already guess the answer, she couldn't stop herself from asking, "What happened to them?"

Maleficent's hand abruptly stopped its stroking and her body became tense and rigid again. Straightening, she cleared her throat, schooling her features until her face was an emotionless mask. "Starfleet won the battle. That's all I wish to say about it."

With a soft sigh, Aurora let her head fall back to Maleficent's shoulder as she closed her eyes tightly. Unshed tears burned behind her lids and her heart ached for Maleficent's loss, however severe it had been. After a while, Maleficent's thumb resumed its slow strokes across Aurora's hand, but neither of them said much else that evening.

 

* * *

 

A day later, in the early afternoon, the bridge was beginning to come to life again. Portable generators attached to most of the consoles had let many bridge officers come back to prepare for the power coming back online. Aurora leaned back in the chair, resting her head and closing her eyes. She had worked most of the day, crawling up and down through the Jeffries tubes, organizing and supervising the purge together with Maleficent and Balthazar. The repairs had gone without a hitch – so far – but while the ship was beginning to return to working order, its captain was feeling more tired by the minute.

Her eyes came to rest at the helmsman's console where Maleficent sat. As the day had gone by and she had become more and more stressed, Maleficent had thankfully seamlessly taken over most of the coordination with Balthazar, leaving Aurora with a much lighter workload. As she had many times over the last week, Aurora briefly mused over what her command would have been like without Maleficent at her side – without the logic, the clarity of mind and the decisiveness that she brought to the bridge.

Confusion. Doubt. Hesitation. An overworked, inexperienced captain with a splitting headache. Complete and utter chaos.

On the other hand, Aurora was well aware of just how cool and collected Maleficent had been since their dinner the evening before. Maleficent had retreated back into her shell, so to speak, being all business and all Vulcan. She supposed most of the crew hadn't noticed it but to Aurora, the cold facade was disheartening, albeit not very unexpected. She had pushed too hard, gone too far and now Maleficent spoke to her like she spoke to a replicator.

Maleficent rose from the helm, tapping on her PADD briefly before bending down slightly to reach back for the console below her. Almost unconsciously, Aurora tilted her head, her eyes roaming over the tall woman's body. It didn't help with her concentration, but then again neither did her memories of cuddling up to Maleficent, huddling together under a blanket. Maybe it was the human parts of Maleficent, but she hadn't felt anything like the cold, distant Vulcan stereotype back then. She'd been soft and warm, even a little vulnerable. Relatable.

A beep from her PADD surprised her and nearly made her fall out of her chair. She glared at the offending object lying in her lap. _Right, the purge._ Lacking internal communications, they'd had to resort to a carefully timed schedule instead. Now, her PADD signaled the it was almost time to turn the power back on. Reluctantly, she stood and made her way over to Maleficent, clearing her mind of less proper images involving the first officer.

"Commander?"

Maleficent looked up briefly. "Captain." Without waiting for a reply, she bent her head back down, alternately tapping on the console and her PADD.

Awkwardly clearing her throat, Aurora tried not to feel to bothered by the cold reception. They were fellow officers, nothing more. Right? "It's almost time to turn the power back on. I'd like you down in engineering, coordinating it with Lieutenant Bailey."

Finally, Maleficent stood up straight and put down her PADD, turning her full attention to Aurora. She was looking oddly bothered. "I see," she said tersely. Her eyes shifted to the side, to the ground and then back to Aurora in an unusual show of discomfort.

Aurora frowned when there was nothing but continued uncomfortable silence coming from Maleficent. "Commander?"

"Perhaps you could ask some other officer instead," Maleficent suggested, her expression strained.

Aurora's heart dropped; Maleficent was obviously angry with her. That she would take it out during work hours surprised her, but Aurora couldn't feel anything other than guilt. She'd pushed too hard and abused her position and now she was suffering the fallout from it. She could practically hear Maleficent's dry voice in her mind explaining the risks of pursuing relationships with fellow officers. Taking a deep breath, she linked her hands behind her back to stop them from fidgeting. "Of course." She hesitated. "I'm... sorry about last night. I was unprofessional and shouldn't have asked you so many personal questions. And the closeness was completely inappropriate too, of course. I know Vulcans aren't as physical as humans and I should have respected that and I'm really sorry–"

" _Aurora._ " Maleficent's annoyed voice cut through her ramblings, startling her.

Aurora blinked. "Uh, yes?"

"Could we–" She stopped and glared as one of the other officers stepped towards them. Noticing the dark look, the officer turned on her heels, suddenly finding it much more useful to work on the _other_ side of the bridge. "Could we speak about this in your ready room?"

Nodding, Aurora stepped aside and let herself be led to her ready room by Maleficent. A single portable lighting unit lit up the room faintly. "So..." she began, glancing up at Maleficent.

Maleficent sighed quietly, her discomfort still unusually visible. "It has nothing to do with that."

"It has nothing to do with what?" Aurora asked, a little confused by the sudden statement.

"It has nothing to do with last night."

"Oh." Aurora stared dumbly at her, a small part of her mind laughing wildly at the ways that sentence could be interpreted. "Then what has?" She shook her head, pinching her nose. "No, I mean, what has– why does nothing–" She sighed in irritation at her own inability to form a coherent sentence. " _Why_ won't you go down to engineering then?" Wincing, she realized how aggressive it sounded.

Again, Maleficent's eyes flitted around the room and she shifted her weight from foot to foot, if only very slightly. "I'm sure my time could be better spent here–"

"No," Aurora blurted out, surprised at hearing such an obvious lie coming from the Vulcan. "We're almost done with the preparations up here. When the power comes back, we need you down in engineering, working with Balthazar." Frowning, she took a step closer to Maleficent. "What's going on?"

"I'm..." Maleficent clenched her jaw, her body rigid and her eyes focused on a spot on the floor. "I dislike confined spaces," she admitted.

"But why–" Aurora stopped when realization dawned on her. "The Jeffries tubes. You're– you're claustrophobic?" she said incredulously.

"To an extent. The darkness does not help," Maleficent muttered in response, tilting her head up to meet Aurora's gaze. "I will go if you feel it important, but–"

"No, no, of course not! I'll go myself," Aurora insisted. "I just wish you had told me earlier – I could have reassigned you so you wouldn't have been forced to use the Jeffries tubes so much today."

"It was not a significant problem and my presence was greatly needed in other parts of the ship." Maleficent's eyes softened. "But I appreciate your concern."

Aurora sighed, allowing herself to relax. So maybe she hadn't messed up _everything_ after all. Still, she felt now was as good a time as any to clear the air further. "And last night... it wasn't..." She gestured vaguely, searching for the right words.

Maleficent gave her a look, apparently enjoying Aurora's rambling. After a few moments, she took pity on the incoherent captain. "I enjoyed it, for the most part. I would... not be opposed to doing it again at some point. Although," she paused, lifting an eyebrow, "perhaps under better circumstances. Working life support and palatable food would be preferable."

"I see." Aurora ducked her head, hiding her wide smile. "I'd like that, too." Clearing her throat, she schooled her feature. "Well. I should probably head down to engineering before Balthazar wonders if something's happened."

"You're not sending someone?"

"It'll be an opportunity for me to get more familiar with engineering and the crew down there. Besides, I think it'll be good if one of us two is down there while the other stays here on the bridge."

Maleficent nodded in agreement before turning around and following Aurora back to the bridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: I steal and modify lines from the movie and use them for my own nefarious purposes.
> 
> Next week on Star Trek USS Fae: more stolen lines!


	6. And everything is wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of treknobabble, story progression (after all, this fic isn't just malora fluff) and plot twists that you may or may not have suspected in this chapter.
> 
> For the record, I'm trying to portray Philip as a bit silly but still all in all likeable, despite how Maleficent may feel. I hope it comes through. (And just to make it perfectly clear, there will be absolutely no hint of any kind of love triangle including Philip or anyone else. Don't worry, Malora will stay Malora.)
> 
> **Wordlist for those who need/want it:**  
>  Jeffries tubes are maintenance shafts running through the ship and they are the only way to get between decks when the turbolifts are down. (Apparently I forgot to explain that earlier, sorry!)  
> Galaxy class starships are huge, 1000-3000 crew members and over 40 decks. Compare that to a Nova class with its compliment of 80 crew members and 8 decks.  
> The warp core is the ship's main power generator, basically. Without it running (or present), the ship still has some power, but not much.  
> EPS conduits are also known as plasma conduits or power conduits but EPS sounds more trekkish so I use that term instead.
> 
> Not much more to say, other than that the story is going to pick up the pace a bit after this chapter. I hope you enjoy it :)

Ensign Philip Scarlett was not on the bridge, that much he was certain of. Was this deck four? Deck five? He pursed his lips, peering into the long corridor ahead of him. Maybe deck three. He sighed. A map would really have come in handy now. Looking down on his wrist, he checked the oxygen left in his breathing mask. At least two hours with regular usage, so at least he didn't have to worry about that.

To many, being a helmsman of a starship while having no sense of orientation might seem strange, but to him it wasn't that odd. On his own, he could barely find his way out of his own quarters while at the helm of a starship, he was completely at home. He'd graduated from the academy with almost perfect grades in astrophysics, starship handling, and advanced subspace geometry, despite his difficulty to find his way around San Francisco the days he forgot his map.

Much like his situation right now. Without the computer to guide him and the turbolifts to take him to where he was supposed to go, he was completely lost.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a hatch opened nearby, revealing the silhouette of Captain Rose. Thankful that the lack of light hid his embarrassment, he quickly walked towards her. "Captain?" he said tentatively, his voice muffled by the mask.

She looked up, crouched near the wall and just about to replace the panel she'd come out through. "Ensign?" She stood, squinting at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," he said, letting out a nervous chuckle. "I was on my way to the bridge, through the Jeffries tubes, but now I seem to have become... hopelessly lost."

The captain hummed in mild surprise, thankfully not appearing too upset about it. He guessed she'd read about his lack of sense of orientation in his files. Still, Captain Rose was the last person he'd want to look bad in front of and, if he was completely honest, not just because she was his superior. She was barely ten years older than him, yet already captain of her own starship and although he wasn't sure if he ever wanted that kind of responsibility, he couldn't help but admire her. The fact that she was very pretty didn't help either.

"Well," she said, "I see." She gestured at the still opened panel beside her. "It's that way. Up two decks, forward two sections and then up another deck." 

Philip looked at the panel, surprised. Why hadn't he thought of that? He really needed to memorize the ship's layout better. Getting lost on a Galaxy class starship or a Sovereign was one thing, getting lost on a ship with eight decks and 80 crew members was just silly. He looked back to the captain, unsure of what to say.

"The bridge," she helpfully clarified. "Through that panel."

He was sure she wasn't intentionally trying to make him feel like a complete moron, but the result was the same. He was very glad his cheeks wasn't visible in the darkness. "Ah, yes." He nodded in an attempt to regain some appearance of intelligence. "In there, of course. I'll be sure to hurry back."

Despite the dim light, he saw the captain's smile through her mask. "Good. I'll be in engineering until the power is back up. Until then, Mal– uh, Commander Moors has command on the bridge. Ensign." With that, she gave a curt nod and hurried off down the corridor.

The mention of the Vulcan commander made him wince as he made his way through the opening in the wall. As much as he enjoyed the captain's company and perhaps wouldn't _object_ to something more than a platonic relationship, he had no intention of trying his luck. The commander's glare towards him a few days earlier had made it very clear that Captain Rose was strictly off limits, for one reason or another. He just hoped that Commander Moors didn't take his friendliness towards the captain as anything more than that. Dealing with the commander was difficult enough without her seeing him as competition or whatever the reason might be for her obvious dislike.

By the time he exited the shaft, he realized he had completely forgot the captain's instructions. How many decks up was it again? Cursing to himself, he loosened a panel leading out into a nearby corridor. Maybe he could find someone else to ask for directions. He got to his feet in the corridor and turned on his flashlight, peering down both ends of the corridor. He didn't see anything, but he did hear some noises from one end of the corridor.

"Hello?" No response. "Is someone there?" He rounded a corner and saw several forms scurrying out from one of the living quarters. "Hello?" he repeated.

At the sound of his voice, the people stopped and turned towards him. It was still to dark to make out anything but vague, humanoid shapes.

Philip frowned. "Who are you? You're not–" The rest of his sentence was cut off as something hit him squarely in his chest. The next thing he knew, his legs collapsed under him and everything went black.

 

* * *

 

Balthazar glanced at his oxygen levels before adjusting his mask and grunting to himself. Not high enough for his liking, but they were almost ready to power up so if they'd done it right, the masks wouldn't be necessary for much longer.

On queue, the engineering doors slid open and Captain Rose stepped in, immediately heading towards him.

"How are things coming along, Lieutenant?"

"About done, Captain. I'm only waiting for two more reports and then we'll start it up. Everything ready on the bridge?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," the captain replied with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Honestly, I'd be glad just to have emergency power up and running again."

"I hear you," Balthazar muttered. Being on a literally powerless ship was very near the top of things he never wanted to do. Organizing was a complete mess and it was near impossible to get anything done beyond the most basic tasks without the computer online.

An officer hurried over to him and handed him two PADDs. "Thanks, Ensign," he muttered. Skimming through them, he nodded to himself. The last of the purge seemed to have gone as well as he had hoped. "Well, that's about it, we're good to go." He looked up to meet the captain's eyes in the dim lights. "With you're permission, Captain?"

"Yes, of course." Captain Rose bobbed her head quickly in agreement. "Please."

"Alright." He put away the PADDs and clapped his hands a few times, the sound echoing through the room. "Listen up, people: it's time to turn the power back on! Everyone, gather around me."

The sounds of footsteps filled the engineering room as dozens of officers all hurried over to him. He smiled inwardly at the display; it was a damn good crew that worked exceptionally well under pressure. Even in the middle of an emergency, the engineering crew had taken the change of leadership in engineering without batting an eye. Granted, he had served as chief engineer before and even on the USS Fae he had been the second in command in engineering, but it was still an abrupt change.

"We'll start with emergency power and work our way up," he explained when everyone was there. "Atlas, take your team and make sure the plasma flow and the power grid is stable. Fenrir, your team is in charge of initiating the power systems. Wait for my mark. Luna's team is responsible for the warp core. Any risk of nebula particles compromising the core, you hit the kill switch. The rest of you, get to your posts." The crowd scattered almost as soon as he finished his short speech, all having their own job to do. Turning back to the captain, he said, "I guess you'll stay for the fireworks?"

Captain Rose let out a little chuckle with only a hint of nervousness. "I'll stay, but hopefully without any fireworks."

Balthazar almost barked out a laugh, as much at the comment as at the captain's expression. Despite the uniform and the professional look, there was this strange... openness – he couldn't really describe it well – to her that he hadn't seen much in commanding officers, let alone in captains. Not that it really mattered to him, though. Maleficent seemed to accept her without any problems and that was enough for him. Besides, as long as the bridge officers didn't try to mess with the warp core, he was fine with whoever was in command. He was an engineer, not a politician.

Three "ready" was shouted from different parts of the room.

"Alright, let's do this," Balthazar muttered, nodded at the captain and then turned towards the nearby console. "Fenrir, mark," he barked. Suddenly, the room was filled with a dim, blinking red light. "Yeah, that's helpful," he scoffed, glaring at the lights. Tapping in a few commands on the console, he skimmed through the output for a moment. "Everything looks fine. Let's get auxiliary power and the warp core online as well. Fenrir, Luna!"

"Aye, sir!"

A soft humming sound was heard, growing louder by the second. A moment later, the warp core was glowing again, bathing the officers around it in its soft light. Balthazar let go of a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. He'd missed that comforting glow.

"Auxiliary power is online," came the report from Fenrir. "Everything's looking stable for now."

"Good," Balthazar nodded, an uncommon grin playing on his lips, his teeth glittering in the light. "Very good. I want to check some things but we should get main power back in a matter of minutes."

"Oh," the captain remarked, surprise evident in her voice. "That soon?"

Balthazar shrugged, feeling lighter than he had in a week, despite the few remaining worries. "When it works, it works."

Captain Rose sighed, although if it was from relief or disappointment, Balthazar couldn't tell. "Well then, I should probably get back to the bridge. I want to get out of this nebula as soon as we have warp power back online."

"I don't blame you," Balthazar said, his expression darkening. "This has been one hell of a mission." He snorted and shook his head. "And _not_ in a good way."

"Yeah," the captain said, a wistful smile barely visible behind her oxygen mask.

 

* * *

 

When Aurora stepped back onto the bridge, the first she noticed was the light. Everything was so _bright_. She didn't even bother to cover up the wide grin that spread across her face when she stepped down to her chair.

"Captain," Maleficent greeted her and Aurora swore her expression was somewhat brighter as well. It only made her own grin widen.

"Commander," she replied, her chipper demeanor making Maleficent's eyebrow rise just a bit. "How are we doing?"

"Most systems are back or in the process of coming back online. We should have warp power within the hour."

Aurora frowned. "An hour?"

"Balthazar wants to make sure there aren't any traces of the nebula particles left in the power grid."

"I suppose that's wise," she mumbled. The last thing she wanted to do was to rush things and get stuck in this godforsaken nebula even longer. Leaning back in her chair and relaxing her tense body, she let her eyes take in the view in front of her. It was light, the viewscreen was on, it was _light_ again and Philip–

Furrowing her brows at the sight, she blinked in confusion. That wasn't Philip at the conn. "Where is Ensign Scarlett?" she asked, turning to Maleficent.

Maleficent shot a glance at the helm and then back at Aurora. "I assumed he was on his way."

"No, I met him when I went _to_ engineering. He should have been back already." She pursed her lips in thought. "Is the computer online yet?"After a nod from Maleficent, she said, "Computer, locate Ensign Philip Scarlett."

" _Ensign Scarlett is not aboard the ship._ "

"What?" Aurora exclaimed. They were out in the middle of nowhere, where could he have gone? Unless– "Computer, run a level ten self-diagnostic." Turning to Maleficent, they shared an odd look. Something was wrong.

"Diaval," Maleficent said, "test the sensors. There might be an error from the cold boot."

The tenseness that had kept Aurora's body in a tight grip ever since Captain Roberts had died was now back with vengeance. Could Philip have hurt himself when trying to make it back to the bridge? Had an airlock malfunctioned, sending him off into space? She shivered and swallowed hard. The possibilities went from chilling to heartbreaking.

" _Diagnostic complete. No errors found._ "

"Nothing here either, Commander," Diaval said with a helpless shrug. "No errors, no tampering, nothing at all."

The look on Maleficent's face hardened, her jaw clenching. "Computer, search for any humanoid corpses throughout the ship."

An uncomfortable silence filled the bridge as the computer got to work. Maleficent sat completely still, eyes narrowed and jaw set. Aurora, on the other hand, couldn't seem to be still at all, her fingers alternating between tapping on the armrest and fiddling with each other. Finally, Maleficent put her hand over Aurora's, stilling them both and easing Aurora's unrest a little bit. It wasn't much, but it was something.

" _Search complete. One body found. Location: Sickbay. Previous designation: Captain Brent Roberts._ "

"Computer," Maleficent continued, "do any sections of the ship currently connect directly to space? Are there any hull breaches?"

" _Negative._ "

"Have any airlocks been open the last five hours?"

" _Unknown. Sensors did not record during that period._ "

"Does that mean..." Aurora began, unable to form the words. "I mean, he could have–"

"We can't be sure," Maleficent cut her off. "Anything could have happened when the sensors were down." She paused. "Diaval, scan the area around the ship for any trace of Ensign Scarlett."

"Aye, Commander."

Aurora was silent, preparing for the worst. Twisting her hand slightly, she interlaced her fingers with Maleficent's, enjoying what little comfort and grounding it gave her. Maleficent didn't seem to mind, her own hand shifting to better fit with Aurora's.

"I can't find anything on external sensors either," Diaval said, frustration mixing with helplessness in his voice. "The nebula is limiting both the range and resolution. There is this strange energy wake, but apart from that I can't–" His voice was interrupted by a loud crackle followed by sparks flying out of his console. Jumping back, he cursed loudly. "What the hell just happened?"

As if set off by his question, the whole ship shook, the lights flickered and sparks flew out of several consoles that blew out in quick succession. Smoke flowed out from a ruptured tube in the ceiling and small fires flared up in some of the broken consoles. People were shouting and running but Aurora sat still, unable to take it all in.

"Aurora."

She'd lost another one – this time even under her command – and now the ship was on the verge of getting destroyed. She wasn't ready for this, she didn't _want_ to do this, she–

"Aurora!"

Aurora was suddenly aware of a hand holding her chin in a firm grip. Blinking, she realized the hand belonged to Maleficent who was currently bent over her, staring into her eyes with an urgent look.

"Captain," she said, her voice growing softer as Aurora snapped out of her daze. "You need to collect yourself. I don't believe we're under attack but many of the ships systems have failed." Loosening her grip, she leaned in closer, her voice low enough to be a whisper. "We'll get through this together, Aurora, but that requires _both_ of us." With that, she straightened, stepped back and sat down in her seat next to the captain. "Report!"

"Massive systems failure, Commander," Diaval replied, having relocated to a working console. "From what I can tell, half the EPS conduits blew out together with a handful of random systems all over the ship." He tapped frantically on the console. "External sensors and weapons are gone, shields are barely working, propulsion..." Running his hand through his dark hair, he shook his head in defeat. "Barely functioning. Balthazar will need a miracle to get this working again."

"Is there any immediate danger to the ship?" Aurora asked, struggling to keep her voice even.

"I... think we're fairly safe, Captain, but you'll have to check with engineering to be sure. And without external sensors we're completely blind."

"Any casualties?"

"Everyone's accounted for except Ensign Scarlett. A few cuts and bruises here and there, nothing serious. The doctor seems to have everything under control."

"Then I suppose we'll have to hear what Lieutenant Bailey has to say," Maleficent said, her voice oddly flat. Hovering her hand over her combadge, she turned to Aurora and cocked an eyebrow, silently asking for permission.

Aurora just nodded, glad to let Maleficent handle it. She didn't care if people saw her as weak; Maleficent's calm was sorely needed right now.

Maleficent tapped her combadge. "Balthazar, what's going on down there?"

"Don't even think about blaming the purge, Commander," Balthazar growled back. "This isn't our doing."

"Then what should I blame?" Maleficent replied, a sharp edge to her voice.

Balthazar laughed, a raspy, harsh sound. "The ship has been sabotaged, Maleficent."

"What?" Maleficent and Aurora exclaimed in unison.

"Some little fu– _someone_ booby-trapped every system they could get their hands on. When the power went online, the systems were activated and everything went to hell down here. We haven't even finished putting out the fires yet."

Maleficent pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled loudly. "Are you saying one of the crew intentionally damaged the ship?"

"All I'm saying is that someone did it. I can't say anything more than that until we've analyzed the devices." He paused. "And put out the damn fires, too. Balthazar out."

Slumping back in the chair, Maleficent looked far more tired than she had at any point during the previous week. Without thinking, Aurora pulled Maleficent's hand up on the armrest, linking their fingers and squeezing gently. A little surprised, Maleficent turned her head and met Aurora's eyes, her face softening visibly.

"We'll figure this out, Maleficent," Aurora whispered with a weak smile on her lips, her eyes never leaving Maleficent's. "You, me and the rest of the crew. Together."


	7. Surfing the waves of destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! So sorry about letting you all wait. As my gift to you, prepare for angst.
> 
> I don't think there's any need for a wordlist this time, but please let me know if something is unclear.
> 
> Another PSA: the pixies won't be joining us. They're not a part of the Fae's crew, at least (they might be Aurora's actual aunts, who knows?). I thought I would use at least one of them, but I changed my mind. All new officers will most likely be original characters or borrowed from other fandoms.
> 
> With all that said, please enjoy :)

The captain's ready room was still and quiet, a jarring contrast to the turmoil on the bridge. Aurora's thoughts more than made up for the difference though, her mind filled with worries and what-ifs on repeat. Whatever strength she had felt back on the bridge was gone. "You, me and the rest of the crew"? In the silence of her ready room, it sounded laughably hollow.

The doors slid open and Maleficent entered. "Captain."

"Come in," Aurora mumbled as she slowly sat up, tired enough not to care much about appearance.

"Balthazar has gotten the fires under control in engineering and Commander Terei has begun analyzing the devices that were used to sabotage the ship."

Aurora nodded to herself. She hadn't seen much of the ship's science officer – Lieutenant Commander Terei – since Captain Roberts died, Terei being too busy helping out with the repairs. "Sounds good."

"Have you read the reports yet?"

Aurora looked down on her desk where a few PADDs lay, screens dark. The dread that had filled her when she brought them with her came back with full force. Reading the injury report and the damage report would make this all real; it would make it far _too_ real. It would mean that the ship she was put in charge of had been damaged, broken. It would mean that people on her ship – under _her_ command – had been injured. "No," she sighed, eyes still lingering on the PADDs, "no, I haven't looked at any of them."

"Aurora?"

"I can't. It's... it's too much," Aurora said, no louder than a whisper. "It was supposed to be an easy mission. Scanning a nebula. Exploring the stars. Not," she gestured at the PADDs as her voice grew louder, more frustrated, " _this_. One dead, one missing – maybe dead as well – a ship reduced to scrap, sabotage?"

"It is highly unlikely that Ensign Scarlett is dead, seeing how–"

"It doesn't matter!" Aurora exclaimed, flying out of her chair and slamming her hands down on the table. She swallowed and dipped her head, trying to collect herself. She didn't usually get this upset, but this time it would seem her father's genes shone through. It left a bad taste in her mouth. "I wasn't meant to be captain. I don't _want_ to be captain. I don't want to lead anyone!"

"Nevertheless, you are the captain," Maleficent noted, "and you are in charge of this ship."

"And I can't _do it_ ," Aurora murmured, her voice cracking. "I'm not cut out for this. I can barely stand the damn _ship_ getting damaged. How am I supposed to handle a casualty report?" She stared back at Maleficent with wide eyes, fury and helplessness battling for power.

"So what do you suggest?" Maleficent asked. "We do our best while you sit in here lamenting your misfortune?"

"What?" Aurora replied, confused at the sharpness in Maleficent's tone. "No, I–"

"Or perhaps you think everyone should take a few weeks off to handle their frail emotions while the ship falls apart and Ensign Scarlett is forgotten," she continued, her expression hardening.

"That's not what I meant–"

"Then what did you mean, _Captain_?" Maleficent snapped. "Why should the ship and crew suffer because you can't control yourself?"

"I didn't ask for this!"

"Yes you did!" Maleficent shot back, her eyes burning. "You accepted the position of first officer. You _knew_ the risks, you _knew_ that you were next in line to the captain's chair." She clenched her jaw and looked out through the window for a few moments, her hands curling into fists. When she turned back, her voice was lower but no less fierce. "What would happen if Balthazar decided he'd had enough? Or the doctor? Or, for that matter, if _I_ hadn't accepted the promotion following Captain Robert's death?"

The words stung, taking Aurora by surprise. It was true, though; she hadn't thought about the other's role in this, how everyone else felt, how everyone else had been affected. She'd been too focused on herself, on how to cope with something that had been forced on her. And while Maleficent's words did nothing to make her feel better, they did put things in a new perspective.

She sat down in her chair with a sigh, head bent in defeat. "I... hadn't thought of it like that," Aurora mumbled as the anger that had gripped her slowly faded away, leaving her with the fear of her responsibilities and the shame of disappointing her crew – and more importantly, disappointing Maleficent.

"I'm sure you hadn't," Maleficent shot back, a badly hidden snarl on her lips. "But while you wallow in self-pity, your crew suffers." She stepped up to Aurora's desk, towering over the young captain as her eyes bored into Aurora's. "If you can't handle your feelings in a crisis like this, when a real crisis hits, _people will die_." She stood there for a few moments, eyes burning and hands shaking in an unusual show of emotion. Then she straightened and crossed her hands behind her back, the image of a perfect officer once more apart from the hard look on her face. "We have a lot of work to do, Captain. Get back to your post."

As Maleficent left the ready room, Aurora stared after her, stunned by her words. It had all been true, everything Maleficent had said. She had been selfish and blind, only caring about her own problems.

_Angry and selfish. Just like father,_ she thought bitterly, feeling bile rising in her throat. It was the one thing she'd striven to never become, yet here she was, called out on it by one of the people she admired the most.

With a choked sob, she slumped against her desk, trying to hold back the tears.

 

* * *

 

Aurora stepped onto the bridge a while later, as soon as she felt sure that she could keep up a calm facade towards the crew. "Report," she ordered, surprising herself with how clear her voice sounded.

After an odd glance towards Maleficent, Diaval replied. "All decks have reported items missing. Everything from," he scrolled through a long list on his console, "tricorders and phasers to storage crates and beds."

"So we were attacked? Thieves?"

"It sure looks like it," Diaval muttered. "Without sensor data we can't be sure, but with Philip gone and all these missing items, I don't see any other explanation."

"Good." Aurora winced and shook her head. "I mean, at least we shouldn't have to worry about saboteurs on board the ship." She paused for a brief moment, steeling herself for her next question. "How are the repairs going?"

"Balthazar is working like crazy down there, Captain," Diaval said. "We've got navigational shields and thrusters – at least partially – still no weapons–"

"What about long-range communications?" Aurora asked, for once happy to occupy her mind with repair work.

Diaval shook his head. "Completely fried. There's barely anything left. Whoever attacked us didn't want us to call for help."

"What about the shuttles? They should have something, right?"

"They were sabotaged as well," Maleficent added, not taking her eyes off of the console she was working with. "Propulsion, communications, sensor, all destroyed. Our attackers did a thorough job."

"Of course," Aurora mumbled, leaning against the railing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Well, as long as we're stuck in the nebula, communication is useless anyway."

"We could modify a probe," Diaval suggested, looking between Aurora and Maleficent. "We could outfit a class-5 probe with a distress beacon and send it out of the nebula. It'll take a while at warp two, but with a bit of luck, we might be able to alert Starfleet. Or at least alert _someone_."

"Do it," Aurora said and then chuckled halfheartedly. "At this point I don't care if the Borg stop by to help."

With a wry smile, Diaval nodded. "I'll get on it right away," he said before heading for the turbolift.

Aurora looked out over the bridge, her stomach dropping at the sight of the damage. Although nothing was burning anymore, debris littered the floor and chairs, and cables hung loosely from the ceiling. It looked like a war zone. Shifting her gaze, it landed on Maleficent, bent over a console with a blank expression. Seeing her like that, Aurora could almost pretend that their fight had never occurred. Almost.

Licking her lips, Aurora took a few tentative steps towards Maleficent. "Do we have an estimate on the warp drive?"

"Balthazar is prioritizing it, but he couldn't give a definitive answer yet. Regardless, we shouldn't hope for anything over warp three, at best. Not that it is all that relevant without sensors," Maleficent concluded.

"They're not..."

"They're beyond repair," Maleficent clarified, pulling away from the console to meet Aurora's gaze. "That includes the shuttles' sensors as well."

"Shit," Aurora mumbled. She frowned, worrying her bottom lip as a small, wild idea began to form in her mind. " _All_ the shuttles?"

"Yes," Maleficent snapped. "As I explained: propulsion – both sub-light and warp drive – sensors and communications were all completely destroyed in the shuttles."

Aurora felt herself shrinking under Maleficent's hard tone. "I know, I just..." she trailed off, wondering if she should just ignore the idea. Still though, if there was a chance, she had to take it. "I meant the waverider."

Maleficent looked up, perplexed. "The _waverider_?" She blinked, brows furrowed. "It's not even warp capable, Captain."

"I know, and it might be sabotaged as well, but..." She pursed her lips, going through her idea yet again, checking for faults. "This wasn't a targeted attack, right? They didn't come after us _specifically_ , they just attacked us because we were in their hunting grounds, so to speak. Because we were in the nebula."

"That's the most logical explanation, yes," Maleficent agreed, skepticism still clear on her face. "The disrupting particles in the nebula together with the inability to communicate from inside makes it a good spot for ambushes."

"Exactly. So chances are that they didn't bother to check out the designs for this specific class of starships. They were going with a generic design, going after the standard systems that most Starfleet ships have." She licked her lips, feeling a glint of excitement bubble up. "Weapons. Shields. Communications. Sensors. The shuttlebay. But," she stepped around Maleficent to bring up the Nova class schematics on the console, "how many ships have sub-light shuttlecrafts docked in the hull? You can count those ship classes on one hand."

Maleficent watched her, pursing her lips in thought. "It's not a standard feature, no. And from what Balthazar could tell, the saboteurs focused on the easiest ways to cause as much damage as possible to make pursuit difficult. Even if they knew of the waverider, they may have ignored it to focus on more effective ways of sabotage."

"And if it's still intact, we have sensors." Aurora winced. " _Extremely_ limited sensors, but still. It's better than nothing, right?"

After a moment of consideration, Maleficent bent her head in agreement. "Indeed."

Aurora breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Maleficent left for the turbolift, gesturing for her to follow. It felt good to be able to contribute in other ways than, well, commanding and ordering. The fact that Maleficent hadn't shot down her idea instantly was also an added bonus.

As the waverider was docked in the hull only a few decks below the bridge, Aurora didn't have to endure many minutes of awkward silence on their way there. It wasn't that she was getting angry looks – or even angry vibes – from Maleficent... she didn't get _anything_. Maleficent was suddenly the model Vulcan, her expression and her voice excessively blank, almost lifeless. To someone who had just seen said Vulcan's fist shake with rage, her face twisted into a snarl, the complete radio silence was unnerving.

The waverider was a fairly cramped vessel, only built for short duration, short range planetary missions where regular shuttles couldn't handle the atmospheric stresses. Needless to say, it wasn't built for comfort. Maleficent sat down in the pilot's chair, quickly tapping a few commands on the console. "It would seem that you were correct, Captain. All systems looks operational."

Taking the copilot's seat, Aurora checked the status as well. "Yeah." She pulled up the specs, specifically for the communications and the sensors. "We should be able to patch the external sensors into Fae's systems pretty easily. We might as well use its communication system as well." Frowning, she browsed through the details of the two systems. "They're barely even close to the other shuttles' systems, but I guess they'll have to do. It's better than flying blind, deaf _and_ mute." She glanced over at Maleficent, hoping to get some kind of reaction in return, but there was none.

"I believe I can extend the range somewhat," Maleficent noted, eyes fixed on the console.

Aurora sighed, quietly enough that Maleficent probably didn't hear. "Good." She hesitated, barely resisting tapping her finger on the armrest. "I'll just... patch the systems in from the bridge, then."

"Very well."

Aurora got to her feet, doing her best not to show her disappointment. She wasn't quite sure what she had hoped for, her mind still a mess from her breakdown and the subsequent fight with Maleficent. Without another word, she left the shuttle and headed back to the bridge.

 

* * *

 

"Cocoa, hot." Aurora pulled off her hairband, letting her blond locks fall freely down her shoulders. Even though she was tired enough to fall asleep on the floor, her mind was still buzzing with the events of the day, so instead of going to sleep right away, she was going to curl up with a book and hot chocolate. Maybe some lighthearted, silly romance novel.

Putting the cup of hot cocoa on her bedside table, she changed into her nightwear and crawled in under the sheets, feeling at least some of the tension of the day slowly seep out of her body. She had gone through about half her cup when the door slid open and Maleficent stepped inside.

"Ah, hi," Aurora said, giving Maleficent a wild, confused look. "Did you... need something?"

One of Maleficent's brows rose almost immeasurably. "I take it you never did read the damage report for the ship."

"I... I may have skimmed through it?" Aurora tried with her best apologetic smile, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"The power grid in the parts of the ship that was evacuated before still needs extensive repair. We will have to continue to share room until the repairs are completed."

"Oh." Aurora nodded, mostly to herself. "Okay." So she would be sharing quarters with Maleficent. For several nights. Okay. She wasn't sure what was worst: the awkwardness of interacting with Maleficent after their fight, or the fact that even now, the idea of her and Maleficent sharing quarters still brought up several very inappropriate scenarios in her mind.

"If you disapprove–"

"It's fine," Aurora interrupted her, trying her best not to seem too frazzled. "I was just surprised. It's nothing."

"I see." Maleficent turned on her heel and went over to her bed, proceeding to step out of her uniform.

It took until Maleficent pulled off her undershirt – her back still turned towards Aurora – that Aurora realized that she was staring. She quickly turned away, cheeks burning. Thinking about Maleficent was one thing, blatant ogling was another thing entirely. Not for the first time, Aurora wished that her first officer would have been ugly. Or at least... mediocre. Blinking, she realized that she had turned back, staring at Maleficent's half-naked back. How could someone's _back_ even be erotic?

Huffing in irritation, Aurora turned her head away again. Her impromptu roommate's looks wasn't even what bothered her most. They needed to talk about the fight, to at least come to some kind of understanding. Even if it was fully in the past for Maleficent – which she doubted – Aurora couldn't go on like nothing happened. So, gathering what little courage she had, she took a deep breath and said, "Maleficent." Pause. "About what happened earlier..." She trailed off, hoping Maleficent would pick it up for her.

But that was not what Maleficent had in mind. "It is late. If you need to talk, we can do so during daytime." The words came out unwillingly, clearly forced.

"Yeah, sure. Okay," Aurora mumbled. What little hope she'd had for a good night's sleep was pretty much gone. It was clear that Maleficent was still upset with her, and she didn't know what she could do besides, well, trying her best not to disappoint Maleficent again. She just wanted things to go back to how they had been a day earlier. Now though, that seemed unlikely to happen. "G'night."

"Goodnight, Aurora," came the quiet response as Maleficent lay down in her own bed.

Aurora frowned and looked over towards Maleficent's bed, but the Vulcan was lying with her back turned.

_She said my name._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I just threw my science officer in the air and waved her around like I just don't care. I don't want her to seem too retconned. Plus, Balthazar deserves some help, right? I bet he's pretty overworked by now. There's a doctor onboard as well, despite his lack of screen time. Both of them will show up, eventually.
> 
> Bonus: I have one extremely, horribly obscure Xena reference in this chapter. If you actually found it, you are insane. (Hint: season 5)


	8. A day in the life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *incoherent hysterical laughter* I FINISHED IT I FINISHED THE CHAPTER
> 
> No seriously this chapter has been a pain in my ass since somewhere around _forever_ and I'm still not entirely happy with it but fuck it, I need to get a move on and this chapter just needs to get finished. It's somewhat short and it hasn't got any Malora fanservice but it DOES have a new(ish) character and a lot of Diaval. And awkwardness.
> 
> Next chapter is 90% complete, should be up in a week. I'm trying for actually regular weekly updates for a while, let's see how this goes. 
> 
> I don't think there's a need for a wordlist in this chapter, but as always, tell me if something isn't clear.

Diaval entered the mess hall, not even bothering to hide his yawn. It was early in the morning about a week after the sabotage and the whole crew was beyond tired. Everyone had been working around the clock to get the ship operational again and slowly but surely, the USS Fae was beginning to look more and more like a Starfleet ship and less like a derelict hull a few failing welds away from imploding.

He spotted Maleficent sitting at one of the corner tables at the far end of the room, her focus on a PADD as usual. Getting his breakfast from the replicator, he joined her. "Commander."

"Diaval." Her voice was flat, even by Vulcan standards.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Diaval managed a faint smile. At least the replicators did liquid caffeine fairly well. "I haven't seen you around much the last week. Are you still working on the waverider?"

"Yes."

"And things are going... well?"

"As well as can be expected."

"Okay." Diaval took another sip and held back a frustrated sigh. Talking to Maleficent when she was in her Vulcan mode was like pulling teeth. "You wanted to talk to me about something, though?"

Maleficent nodded, tapped a few times on her PADD and handed it over to him. "Fenrir requires help with the plasma flow calibrations. They need to be completed before we can attempt a test run of the engines this afternoon."

"And?"

"And I'm busy with the waverider. I would appreciate if you could help them in my place," she said without so much as a hint of emotion.

Diaval stiffened and bit back the first irritated remark that came to mind. "Right. We've barely spoken in a week with you hiding out in the waverider all the time and the first time we talk you need help to hide some more?"

To her credit, Maleficent did look vaguely uncomfortable.

He sighed. "You can't hide in there forever, you know."

Maleficent's eyes flashed in anger, if only for a fraction of a second. "I'm not _hiding_."

"Sure," Diaval deadpanned. "Do I even need to ask if you've talked to the captain yet?"

"About what?"

"I don't know!" Diaval exclaimed, then shot a few glances around him and lowered his voice. "I don't know. You haven't told me what happened back then."

"We..." Maleficent's eyes shot to the mess hall's door and she immediately stiffened visibly. "It's nothing. I have to go. Speak to Fenrir." Clenching her jaw and lowering her voice, she added, "Please."

"Sure," Diaval muttered. As Maleficent rose to leave, he turned and looked to see what had gotten her spooked. Seeing Aurora standing by the food replicators, he didn't need to guess. He shook his head and turned back to his breakfast. _Not my problem._

A couple of minutes later, Aurora stepped up to his table, doing her best to smile. The darkness under her eyes and the slumped posture told a different story, however. "Lieutenant, is this seat taken?"

"No, not at all, Captain," Diaval replied, gesturing for Aurora to join him. "Maleficent just left."

Aurora let out an almost inaudible huff and sat down, her brows creasing slightly. "I noticed." She poked her breakfast absentmindedly a few times before dropping her spoon on the table with a clatter. "Look, ah, you two are pretty close, right?"

"Yeah." He gave her a wry smile. "Well, at least we've worked together for a long time. I'm not really sure how close she is to anyone."

Aurora chewed on her lip, apparently deep in thought. "Do you know if... do you know if she–"

"Wait," Diaval cut her off. "Is this about what happened between you two last week? Why she's been all logic and pointy ears ever since?"

"Maybe? Probably," Aurora said with a wince.

"Look, I'd love to help you – I really would – but whatever this is about, it's between you two and I'm pretty sure she would like it to stay that way."

"Oh, okay." Aurora slumped deeper into her chair. "She just won't talk to me," she mumbled.

Diaval emptied the rest of his coffee, the warm liquid almost burning his throat as he swallowed it. He was fairly certain he would need another cup after this conversation was over. "For what it's worth, from what I've seen, if anyone can get her to talk it's you. Just don't give up, okay?"

Aurora's responding smile wasn't even close to her usually blinding grin, but it was distinctly brighter than before. Diaval mentally patted himself on his back. "Thanks," she replied, eating her breakfast with renewed vigor.

 

* * *

 

Main engineering was a mess, just as it had been for the last week. Officers from all over the ship entered and exited often enough that the doors were more or less perpetually open and there was barely an empty spot around the warp core. Needless to say, Balthazar's usually mediocre mood hadn't improved much since the sabotage.

Stopping the first officer he ran into, Diaval said, "Excuse me. Have you seen Fenrir around here?"

The officer scrunched his face up in confusion. "Who?"

"Lieutenant Aewan." When the officer kept staring dumbly at him, Diaval continued, "Betazoid, light hair, kind of short, always seems to have a hyperspanner ready–"

"Oh! Yeah, I think I saw them in one of the Jeffries tubes over there." He gestured vaguely behind him before saying something about an urgent delivery and hurrying past Diaval.

Diaval weaved through the crowd towards the place the officer had given him. It wouldn't be a day too soon when all those officers finally went back to their usual posts instead of crowding main engineering. Having to use everyone's official name was bad enough and having to squeeze past dozens of officers just to get to the core certainly didn't make things any better.

He found Fenrir half inside one of the maintenance hatches behind the warp core, muttering to themself while fiddling with one of the plasma relays.

"Give me a minute," Fenrir said as Diaval walked up to them. "I just need to–" A loud fizzling noise followed by a shower of sparks and a small explosion cut them off. " _Shit_." Mumbling a few more unintelligible curses, Fenrir ripped the relay out with more than enough force, slid out through the hatch and dropped the still smoking relay on the ground. "Well, that's that."

"That doesn't look too promising," Diaval noted, giving Fenrir a skeptical look.

Fenrir shrugged and ran a hand through their hair. "The power grid is still running at almost 150% of recommended capacity, what with all the damaged relays everywhere, so it's no wonder that the few that are left can't handle the increased load. Good thing we've got spare ones, though." They kicked the relay pointedly and then looked up at Diaval. "Did you need something?"

Diaval huffed. "I guess Maleficent didn't tell you."

"What?" Fenrir's brows then shot up in recognition. "Oh, you're here about the plasma flow calibration?"

"Yeah. She's still busy with the waverider. You'll have to make do with me."

Fenrir just waved it off. "That's fine. I just don't want to be stuck with some green ensign for the calibrations. I thought I could speed it up by cutting some corners but I can't do that without someone who knows what they're doing." They walked over and opened a box nearby, pulling out another plasma relay, this one distinctly better looking. "Let me just plug this in and then we're good to go."

As Fenrir crawled into the Jeffries tube again, Diaval began entering a few commands on a nearby display in preparation. Despite the state of the engineering section overall, it felt good to be working with Fenrir again, something they hadn't done much since they were both officers under Maleficent's command several years earlier. Diaval's fingers flew across the panel, his muscle memory doing most of the work.

"So, you've been helping Maleficent this last week or what?" Fenrir asked as the noisily installed the new plasma relay. "I haven't seen you much down here at all."

"No, she's doing that all on her own. I've been trying to find clues to who attacked us." He jammed his finger a little harder than necessary onto the display. "Hasn't been going all that well."

"No?"

"Not even close." Diaval made a face, his frustration from the past week surfacing again. "I've gone over every inch of the ship and still haven't found anything beyond some marks on the hatch they used to get inside. Nothing useful at all." 

"At least they were effective," Fenrir mumbled, a hint of admiration in their voice. "In and out without anyone even knowing they were there. Well, except the guy they took." A loud click was heard and then Fenrir came crawling out of the Jeffries tube, closing the hatch behind them. "There, that should do it."

"Good, I've got the calibration all set up."

Fenrir stepped over to another terminal, narrowly avoiding a collision with a sweaty ensign hurrying past. "Did you know him, by the way?"

"Hm?" Diaval blinked and looked up from his terminal. "Who?"

"The ensign that got taken. I never got to meet him, really, except for a few times in the mess hall. Phillip, something?"

"Oh. Phillip. Yeah, I know him." His brows knit together in thought. "Maybe not all that well, but we worked together on the bridge a lot. I hope he's alright." Every time Phillip and his abduction came up in conversations, Diaval felt a twinge of guilt. As the highest ranking security officer on the ship, it had been his responsibility to keep everyone safe and he had failed miserably, both in protecting them and finding the ones responsible. The fact that it wasn't some nameless, faceless officer he had barely seen at all but someone he had worked with on a daily basis only made the guilt worse.

"It's kind of like old times, eh?" Fenrir broke the silence after a while, sounding oddly carefree. Diaval only gave them a questioning look, so they continued. "The ship is falling apart, Balthazar is pissed, Maleficent is brooding, and you look like you haven't slept in ages."

Diaval let out a weak chuckle. "Old times I'd rather forget. And 'brooding' is putting it lightly. Talking to her right now is like trying to have a meaningful conversation with a replicator."

"That bad?"

"Worse."

"Guess I'm lucky she decided to let you handle the calibrations then. It's been a little dull down here conversation-wise the last few days."

Diaval looked up from the console again, this time in surprise. "Since when do you want conversations when you make repairs?"

"Even I get bored _sometimes_ , Diaval. Besides, Balthazar hasn't exactly been all that fun to be around the last few weeks."

"I can imagine," Diaval muttered. While Fenrir thoroughly enjoyed making repairs, Balthazar was usually much more protective of the ship and often got into an increasingly foul mood when something broke. Needless to say, his mood had been worse than a Klingon's since Captain Roberts had died.

"Anyway, I'm done here. Let's see if we can't get the plasma flow to behave like it should."

 

* * *

 

A couple of hours later, Diaval was racking his brain for the quickest and easiest way to get the captain and the first officer into a small, locked room and leaving them there until they worked out their differences. He wasn't sure how long he had been on the bridge – probably no more than a few minutes – but the awkward tension that simmered between Maleficent and Aurora was practically tangible and he was increasingly desperate for a reason – _any_ reason – to flee the bridge. Seeing how both Balthazar and Maleficent had specifically told him to be present on the bridge during the engine test run, however, that wasn't looking too likely.

"How's it looking on your end, Lieutenant?" Aurora asked, tapping her fingers impatiently – or perhaps nervously – on her armrest.

"The warp field looks stable, nothing out of the ordinary," Diaval replied. He had continuously been checking, double checking and triple checking all values over and over again, making sure that everything was in order for the engine test run that they were about to do.

"Good. Good." Aurora took a deep breath and relaxed her posture a bit, no longer literally sitting on the edge of her seat. "Ma– Commander, everything looking good?"

Maleficent was seated at the helm, running her hands over her console in that quick, fluid way that always made Diaval feel clumsy in comparison. "Yes, Captain." The response was quick and emotionless enough to make Diaval want to whack her over the head with a PADD.

"Let's hope our luck is a bit better this time, then," Aurora quipped with forced cheerfulness. "Go to warp one. If anything looks bad, abort immediately. Engage."

"Warp one," Maleficent confirmed as the faint hum of the engines suddenly increased, making the ship rumble ominously.

"Maleficent," Aurora called out as the rumble passed, clutching her armrest with whitening knuckles. "What was that?"

Maleficent's fingers flew across her console in a blur, the only sign of her distress. "It looks like the inertial dampeners aren't getting enough power to fully compensate for the ship's motion. It shouldn't pose a risk but anything above warp two might result in uncomfortable turbulence." The ship shook again, this time a little harder. "I will tell Balthazar to make it a priority. The crew might not sleep easily with the ship shaking like this."

"Yes, we _all_ need sleep, don't we," Aurora muttered, barely audibly. Clearing her throat, she continued in her normal tone, "Go to warp two."

Immediately, another shiver tore through the ship, making Diaval stumble and almost lose his footing.

"How are we doing?" Aurora asked, turning to look at Diaval over her shoulder. "Apart from the turbulence."

"Everything looks–" The ship shook and he stumbled again, bracing himself against his console. "Everything looks fine. The warp field is stable, the power grid is stable, and no decks report any problems."

Aurora gave him a quick nod, managing a tired yet pleased smile before turning back. "Then take us out of warp, Commander."

The ship shivered one last time before coming to a stop, the noise of the engines once again down to the near imperceptible hum that had been the norm ever since the sabotage.

"If we're all done here, I'll go down to engineering to get the dampeners fixed right away, Captain," Diaval said smoothly just as Maleficent got out of her chair and moved to speak. The brief look of displeasure that flitted across her face was far more enjoyable to Diaval than he would ever admit. He hadn't been forced to bear Maleficent's awkwardness for this long just to let her slip away that easily. "I'll just need to look over my data here first, it shouldn't take too long."

"Okay," Aurora said after a moment's hesitation, slowly getting out of her chair and glancing at Maleficent. "That's... fine."

Diaval shot them a smile – perhaps one a little too smug – and turned his attention to his console, eager to leave. Of course, being only one of three people on the bridge and with the engine noise at a minimum, he couldn't avoid overhearing the hushed conversation that took place over at the helm.

_"So, did the sensor integration with the waverider work?"_

_"It worked as well as could be expected, Captain."_

_"Good."_

Awkward pause.

 _"When I said we all needed sleep, I meant we_ all _needed sleep, you know."_

_"I'm well aware of that, Captain. That is what you said."_

_"But you haven't slept for days."_

_"I don't need much sleep. I've meditated."_

_"Is that why you fell asleep during your late dinner last night? Were you meditating then?"_

Another awkward pause. Diaval wondered if there was some kind of Starfleet regulation against being a socially inept idiot.

_"You need to sleep."_

_"I'm perfectly fine."_

_"Then consider it an order,_ Commander _."_

_"Are you ordering me to bed?"_

_"If you're not in our quarters tonight, I'm sending a security detail to drag you there."_

Diaval wasn't sure if they were too wrapped up in the moment or if that only sounded odd to him but regardless, he decided that it was the perfect time to leave the bridge and the two women alone. Whatever was going on between them, he was more than happy to let them sort it out themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't obvious, Fenrir is an original nonbinary character.


	9. We're going on a field trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two new characters officially introduced! Say hi to the doc and the chief science officer everyone. I don't think there will be many more additions to the main crew for a while now.
> 
> Also I kind of realized I've been spelling Phillip's name with one "l" this whole time while he canonically is spelled with two, so... I think I'm using two l's from now on, but I dunno. Just a little heads up in case someone actually notices it.
> 
> **Wordlist for those who need it:**  
>  Andorians and Caitians are two aliens humanoid species that both are members of the Federation. You can look up more about them on Memory Alpha, but as always it won't be necessary to enjoy the story. Any important attributes will be mentioned when needed.  
> Betazoid is another race (Fenrir is one, noted in the last chapter) whose members have varying degrees of telepathy. (Implied, but eh)  
> Don't be looking for Zuvar anywhere, it's not canon.  
> The Borg and the Romulan Empire are... usually unfriendly civilizations. Not folks you'd invite for tea and biscuits. Or any kind of social gathering.

"Personal log, Aurora Rose. Just like the last few days, there is nothing for me to do." Aurora let out a tired breath. Maybe it would be more comfortable to sit on the floor instead? She got out of her chair and sat down in a corner of the room – the captain's ready room – with her back against the wall and a good view of the windows. Thankfully, after getting the engine up and running again, they had managed to leave the nebula without any problems and Aurora could finally watch vast, calm darkness of space instead of the suffocating fog that had been there a couple of days earlier.

Tapping the edge of her PADD in thought, she let her eyes roam aimlessly over the view through the window as she continued her log entry. "The rest of the bridge officers are all working on repairs and trying to find out who attacked us, so that's good." To be honest, she had been climbing the walls almost since the attack, feeling woefully inadequate compared to the rest of her crew. She knew diplomacy, alien cultures, languages and history, but none of that was particularly useful when she was stuck on a tiny ship in an empty nebula for weeks on end. With Balthazar's organization of the repairs working as a well oiled machine, she barely had enough to do to make her want to get out of bed.

She had single-handedly cleaned her ready room, her quarters and large parts of the bridge, however (except for some larger pieces of debris she hadn't been able to move herself) so at least there was that.

"So..." she mused, flipping through the pages of her PADD, "since I really don't have anything better to do right now, I'm refreshing what I know of alien cultures. I know a lot of what's in the ship's database, of course, but at least it makes the hours pass." Unlike her father, she thoroughly enjoyed learning even the most mundane things about the other cultures and civilizations in the galaxy, both current and old, and there was always some new little tidbit to learn.

The words "pon farr" came up on the screen and she quickly skipped forward a few pages. Of all the things she very much did _not_ need right now, information about Vulcan mating rituals was right up there at the top of the list, together with a family reunion and a court-martial.

Not that she had even seen Maleficent much since the attack, what with her almost constantly making repairs in the waverider shuttle. Things were still at best civil between them and Aurora had no idea how to fix things. Maleficent still avoided her like the plague, looking vaguely guilty every time, and Diaval hadn't been any help in figuring anything out. Although they obviously hadn't talked about it, Aurora could only guess that Maleficent's troubled mood stemmed from her burst of fury in the ready room just after the attack, knowing how reluctant Vulcans generally was with showing emotions.

Aurora groaned and rubbed her eyes after reading and failing to understand the same sentence about Bolian housewarming gifts for the fourth time. As it looked now, she could only hope that Maleficent was Vulcan enough to realize that her emotional lock down wasn't really tenable on board the ship, especially after being so open and friendly with Aurora at first.

" _Captain Rose,_ " Maleficent suddenly sounded through the speakers, making Aurora jump in surprise, nearly slamming her head into the bulkhead.

_Speak of the devil._ Aurora tapped her combadge in response. "Yes?"

" _You're needed on the bridge. I believe we have found something._ "

Aurora was on her feet before Maleficent had finished speaking, the PADD forgotten on the floor. "I'll be right there!"

They had found something. _Something_. After weeks of boredom and perpetual lethargy, even something so incredibly vague made Aurora's heart race in excitement. By now, she didn't care if it was the Borg or the Romulan Empire or Starfleet Command itself that had attacked them, as long as she _knew_ who it was. She made sure her uniform and hair was in order – or at least somewhat presentable – and then dashed out of the room.

The doors to the bridge barely had time to slide fully open before Aurora hurried through, immediately seeking out the small group of officers who stood around one of the science consoles. Besides Diaval and Maleficent, the group also included their Andorian chief science officer, Lieutenant Commander Terei.

"You found something?"

"Indeed." Maleficent gestured at the console and entered a few commands. "Commander Terei managed to use the Fae's sensor readings from before the sabotage and combine them with sensor readings from the waverider–"

"And?" Aurora interrupted impatiently.

"It's a particle trail from the ship that attacked us," Terei explained. "It might be from a cloaking device or from the engines or from something else – I can't tell – but I did triangulate its destination."

Maleficent pulled up a map on the console, showing a few possible trajectories. "Presuming that they didn't do any major changes to their course, they were most likely heading for one of these systems." She pointed at a handful of systems.

"They were going here," Terei asserted with confidence, jabbing her finger down on the map. "The Zuvar system. It's got an asteroid field with a mining station that is a major trading hub for anyone who's too shady to trade with the Federation. We had to stop by here once during the war. It's not the nicest place for a visit but it's well stocked for anything from ship repairs to orbital bombardment."

"Put it up on the main viewer." Aurora turned towards the viewscreen at the front of the bridge, skimming through what little info Starfleet had on the station. Needless to say, it was anything but inviting. It even had a general warning to all Federation ships not to go anywhere near it. "Do you think we'll be allowed to dock there?"

"As long as we have something to trade and don't shoot anyone, probably," Terei replied with a shrug. "The mining corporation's security force keeps most of the station fairly calm."

Worrying her lip, Aurora nodded slowly. "I don't suppose we have much of a choice, then."

"We could wait for reinforcements from Starfleet," Maleficent pointed out. "If they've received our message from the probe, they might have dispatched a vessel to assist us."

"There is no way to know that, Commander." Diaval's voice had an edge to it that Aurora wasn't used to hearing. Apparently the tension aboard the ship had affected even him. "We don't even know if the probe made it out of the nebula at all."

"I'm fully aware of that, Lieutenant. I simply noted that there are other options–"

"Stop." Aurora rubbed her forehead in frustration. "We're going to the station. Tell Balthazar to prioritize propulsion, shields and weapons." Under her breath, she added, "I'm sick of waiting."

 

* * *

 

Aurora sat in the briefing room a few hours later, watching the senior officers trickle in for the staff meeting she had convened. The five officers – Maleficent, Balthazar, Diaval, Terei, and the ship's Caitian doctor, Lieutenant Commander Neterr – were soon all sitting around the table, waiting for their captain to open the meeting.

"As you know, we're headed for a mining station in the Zuvar system to where we believe the ship that attacked us was headed," Aurora began. "If we're lucky, we'll get there in a day or so and we'll be allowed to dock. The question is what we do _next_. Seeing how we're outnumbered and outgunned and we have no idea if any help from Starfleet is on the way, we'll have to do this carefully. Options?"

"We need supplies," Balthazar said bluntly. "We're running low on just about everything and most of our repairs doesn't even come close to Starfleet standards. At this point I can barely guarantee we won't get blown up if we hit some minor space turbulence."

"While you're doing that, we should try to find whoever attacked us and took Ensign Scarlett," Diaval offered. "If they went through there, someone should have seen him."

Maleficent's brows furrowed slightly and she gave Diaval a sidelong glance. "Drawing attention to ourselves before the ship is repaired would be unwise."

"This is a Starfleet ship, Commander," Terei drawled, "and we're already in one of the worst places in the quadrant. The only thing we could do to make it worse would be to write our shield frequency with huge glowing numbers on the hull."

As the discussion increased in volume – everyone arguing what their course of action should be – Aurora felt a headache beginning to brew behind her eyes. Ever since that argument with Maleficent, she had vowed to herself to not shirk her duties as captain, but sometimes she sure wanted to. As a new captain – a fairly young one at that – and without the more imposing presence that both Maleficent and Balthazar had, she increasingly found herself torn between getting run over and channeling what little temper she had inherited from her father. Neither option was particularly inviting, but if her fallout with Maleficent had shown her one thing, it was that she couldn't rely on others forever if she wanted to be an effective captain.

"Enough," she snapped, loud enough to make the others in the room abruptly go quiet, creating a surprised but very welcome silence. "I know these last few weeks have been tough to say the least – nothing anyone expected – but bickering about it isn't helping. Now, Commander," she asked Terei, "did you find anything useful about the devices the intruders used in the attack?"

With a last disgruntled glance towards Maleficent, Terei turned to Aurora. "Not really. They were pretty standard, could probably be bought at any black market. They're not too commonly used though, seeing how you'd have to place them manually on individual systems aboard the ship you're going to attack. It's usually easier to use torpedoes instead."

"Okay." Aurora tapped her finger against the table, her face scrunched up in thought as she mulled over their options. "We can't let whoever attacked us get any more of a head start than they already have and seeing how we don't have any other leads, we'll just have to investigate this the old-fashioned way. Meanwhile," she turned to Balthazar, "Lieutenant, take any personnel and resources you need to get the ship as operational as fast as you can."

"Captain." It was Doctor Neterr who spoke up. "The crew is already doing double or triple shifts as it is. They won't be able to keep this up for long; I've already had some crew members getting into accidents due to lack of sleep."

"I saw the reports," Aurora winced. "I wish there was some other way, but we really need to get the ship operational again as soon as possible."

Hesitating, Neterr didn't look too happy about the situation. "I could give out some mild stimulants for those who want it, but it's a short-term solution."

"We don't have the luxury to slow down, Doctor." Aurora clasped her hands tightly together in front of her. "One crewman might not seem like much but he's one of us and we will _not_ lose him. As soon as we reach the station, I'm going down there to investigate."

" _Captain._ " Even Maleficent – _especially Maleficent_ – seemed to balk at the idea.

"I've spent the last week waiting around doing _nothing_ ," Aurora retorted, unable to keep the frustration out of her voice. "I'm not an engineer; I majored in Interspecies Relations. This is the closest thing I'll be to actually doing something useful and I'm not going to sit on my hands because of some Starfleet regulations."

There was a brief silence and then Maleficent spoke, her voice firm. "Then I'm going with you."

"What?" After weeks of avoiding her, Aurora had figured that Maleficent wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. "No, the ship needs a commanding–"

"As you pointed out, there is nothing to command except repairs as it is, which Lieutenant Bailey has well under control."

"But the waverider–"

"Its systems are integrated as well as they can be. Continuing work there would be wasteful." Her expression hardened. "Making sure our second captain doesn't get killed by some outlaw on an unnecessarily risky away mission is not."

It took only a couple of seconds of meeting Maleficent's hard gaze for Aurora to relent. "Fine," she muttered, jaw clenched. "We'll try to find out anything we can about the ship and if anyone's seen Phillip. Anything else?"

"I'd like to check out the market, to try and find if anyone has bought any Starfleet tech recently," Diaval offered. "If we find them, they might know who stole it from us and where they went."

"You want to go too?"

"With all due respect, Captain, but humans and Vulcans are the poster children for the Federation," Terei pointed out. "Trying to get info about stolen goods would be a wasted effort. A Bajoran on the other hand..." She shrugged, nodding her head towards Diaval.

"Besides, I'm the chief of security. I should be down there, finding out who attacked us," he argued.

Aurora hesitated, but she got the feeling that Diaval wouldn't back down easily. "Okay, but you're not going alone either. Bring a security detail, or–"

"I'll go," Terei cut in. "I know my way around most guns that exist – we could probably go as arms dealers or gun collectors if anyone asked."

"I'd like to bring Fenrir as well, if Balthazar can spare them for a few hours," Diaval added. "We could really use their telepathy. I doubt anyone dealing in stolen Starfleet tech would admit to it openly."

"I'll let you two sort that out," Aurora declared and stood, palms flat on the table. "We'll be at the station soon, make sure everyone's ready. Dismissed."

When the door closed behind them and Aurora was alone again, she fell down into her chair and let out a long, deep breath. She wasn't sure if the meeting had gone better or worse than she had expected, but either way, she was glad it was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week: Field trip! Alcohol! Malora! Klingons!


	10. Making friends all around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we get Aurora flexing her immense linguistic muscles! (No, that's not a euphemism for dirty stuff. This is still rated T, yanno.) And yes, that is reasonably correct Klingon. I did not copy it from somewhere, I read up on Klingon grammar for an hour or two instead. Research is serious business.
> 
> I was going to write some actual Vulcan phrases in this chapter too but I ran out of time. Another time, probably.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is (almost) all Malora. Enjoy :)

Aurora wasn't sure what was more odd: to wear civilian clothes for the first time in months or seeing Maleficent in them. To be fair, Maleficent had done her best to try to look less official – putting up her long hair in a stylish yet simple hairdo for example – but she couldn't get rid of that rigid, formal stance quite so easily.

Two days had passed since they set course for the Zuvar system and today they had reached it, getting permission to dock with the station without any difficulties.

They left the Fae through the main docking port as the transporters were still offline, nodding in passing to the security officers posted there. The station was a stark contrast to even the battered interiors of the Fae, the dim lighting not doing much to illuminate the metal floor and walls, all in dark hues of brown, gray and black. It reminded Aurora of the less welcoming parts of Deep Space 9 or Klingon architecture.

Exiting the small corridor that the Fae was docked to, they stepped out into a larger hallway where all manners of people hurried past them, some with nothing more than a small bag and some with large anti-grav sleds filled with crates and barrels.

"And I thought Starfleet was multicultural," Aurora mumbled, staring out at the crowd.

"We should head to a social hub to see if anyone has any information for us." Maleficent tapped her PADD, bringing up a map of the station. "It's this way."

"A social hub?" Aurora asked as they weaved through the stream of people. "You mean a bar?"

"Yes."

Aurora didn't reply, too busy taking in the views around her. Despite her interest in other species and aliens in general, she hadn't had much actual experience of interacting with them. Besides Earth Spacedock, Deep Space 9 and a few other minor starbases, she hadn't seen much outside Earth or the starships she had been assigned to. To experience this station – lawless or not – and all of its varied inhabitants almost let Aurora forget why she was there in the first place. 

The bar was deep inside the asteroid the station was built on, filled with people from all across the quadrant, albeit mostly the seedier parts, it would seem.

"This place is big," Aurora mumbled, eyes scanning the large room. "I guess we should split up and ask everyone?"

Maleficent nodded her assent. "I will take the left side. When we're done, we'll meet in the middle by the bar."

"Sounds good."

They headed each to one side of the room, asking anyone they passed if they had seen anyone with Phillip's description. Most people barely even acknowledged Aurora's presence and the ones who did were seldom particularly helpful. Some wanted a reward simply for telling her if they _had_ seen him at all, while others gave obviously false or nonsensical answers.

When Aurora finally made it to the bar, she had to admit that the questionings had been a complete waste. She sat down with a heavy sigh next to Maleficent by the bar disk and gestured for the bartender.

"Um, Bajoran ale?" she ordered, unsure if it was something common enough or not.

"Water," Maleficent said, giving Aurora a faintly disapproving glance when the bartender left to prepare their orders. "I assume you're aware that they most likely serve alcohol here, not synthehol."

"So?" Aurora retorted flippantly. "I'm not going to get drunk on one glass. Besides, it helps to blend in."

"I suppose."

Aurora huffed but didn't get a chance to respond as the bartender just then returned with their drinks. "Excuse me," she said to him, "we're looking for someone. A friend. Do you know who we could talk to for information?"

"There are lots of people to talk to on the station," the bartender replied with a shrug. "I'm not one of them. Enjoy your drinks." With that said, he left.

"Okay," Aurora mumbled dejectedly. Downing a large part of her drink, she put the glass down with a thunk, frowning. "What do we do now?"

"I believe you were the one to suggest this excursion, Captain," Maleficent noted flatly.

She wasn't sure if it was Maleficent's tone, her expression or merely the general frustration with everything that had only been growing for the past few weeks, but something reached a boiling point. "And I _believe_ I told you to call me Aurora!" she snapped.

The tension hung in the air for several minutes as both women sat quietly, sipping their drinks, eyes focused on nothing in particular.

"I'm aware that you didn't want me to accompany you–" Maleficent begun but she was briskly cut off.

"This isn't about that!" Aurora shook her head angrily, her loose locks tumbling wildly over her shoulders. "You've been avoiding me for weeks and whenever I've actually managed to get hold of you, you've been acting like we barely know each other!"

A slight clenching of Maleficent's jaw muscles was the only reaction Maleficent gave. "I've been working on repairs since the attack."

"Oh please." Aurora emptied her glass in one go and slammed it down on the counter. "I'm not stupid, Maleficent."

"I'm well aware of that fact."

"This is about what happened in my ready room, isn't it?" When Maleficent made no move to reply, Aurora huffed tersely and gestured for the bartender. "Another one, please." The disapproving glance Maleficent gave her did nothing to dissuade her.

"What happened there was..." Maleficent's face darkened visibly, despite her obvious effort to hide it. "I spoke out of line. I apologize."

Aurora's brows furrowed in confusion and irritation. "You apologize? But you were _right_." She ran a finger slowly around the rim of her glass. "I was acting like a spoiled princess – just thinking about myself – and you told me exactly what I needed to hear."

"Nevertheless, it was not my place."

"Of course it's your place," Aurora scoffed. "You're the first officer; you're _supposed_ to advise me and tell me when what I'm doing is," she made a vague gesture with her hand, "something I shouldn't do. And if you have to get loud to get through to me, you should."

Maleficent stared down at her glass of water, an odd expression on her face. "Vulcan emotions are not like yours. They are... explosive."

"I know. But you're not just Vulcan, you're human as well." Aurora took another long gulp of her ale, feeling the comfortable heat of alcohol pooling in her stomach. "And honestly, my father has had worse outbursts than what you did back there." Aurora could have sworn she heard Maleficent chuckle at that.

"He sounds like wonderful person," Maleficent drawled, giving Aurora a sidelong glance.

"Not really," Aurora mumbled, "but he's family and I guess that counts for something."

Silence fell between them again as both of them slowly emptied their glasses. When Aurora gestured the bartender for a refill, however, Maleficent spoke up.

"Captain, I don't think you should–"

"Aurora," she corrected her, not looking up from her glass. After two rather large glasses of Bajoran ale, she was definitely feeling the alcohol in her system but couldn't quite get herself to care.

" _Aurora_." Maleficent turned fully towards her. "This is not the time to get intoxicated. We need to find information about Ensign Scarlett and our attackers."

"Well, I'm all out of ideas," Aurora shrugged, defiantly sipping on her new drink and silently delighting in the hints of emotions – albeit rather negative ones – she managed to elicit from Maleficent, "and seeing how I'm the one who came up with the idea for this little trip I guess there isn't much more to do but to sit here and wait for reinforcements from Starfleet."

"That was not what I meant." Maleficent's voice was tight.

"No?"

" _No,_ " Maleficent emphasized.

Out of nowhere – or perhaps Aurora had simply been a little too tipsy to notice – a Klingon walked up to the bar, shoving Aurora roughly aside and interrupting whatever she had planned to say. "Bartender! Bloodwine!"

"Watch it!" Aurora exclaimed, her frustration temporarily finding a new target. "You know you're not alone here, right?"

The Klingon merely laughed at her outrage. "You should be happy you didn't fall off your chair. But hey, let me buy you a drink as an apology." He leaned on the bar, giving Aurora a condescending smile. "I don't think they've got your Federation synthehol here, though. Maybe some milk instead, if that's not too strong for you?"

She met his eyes with a defiant gaze for a couple of seconds before turning and taking a big gulp of her drink. "You know what? I'm the one who should apologize actually," she said, only slurring slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't know that a _targ_ and a _boqrat_ could produce such a piece of _taHqeq_ of an offspring, but here you are."

Blinking, the Klingon seemed genuinely surprised at the reaction. Then he growled, pulled out a dagger from his belt and stabbed it into the bar disk in one swift motion. "Say that again, _human_."

Aurora leaned forward with a smirk until her face was almost touching the Klingon's. " _verengan Ha'DIbaH Sa'Hut roSbejtaH SoSHomlI', todSaH._ "

Unsurprisingly, she quickly found herself pulled off her chair and thrown onto the floor, slamming into a table nearby. The Klingon tore his dagger out of the bar and lunged for her, but Maleficent jumped in front of him, stopping him with a hand on his wrist.

"That's enough." Unlike Aurora, Maleficent was almost as tall as the Klingon and met his eyes without flinching.

"Out of my way, Vulcan, or I'll gut you like I'll gut this _d'blok_ ," the Klingon spat, pulling his arm free and aiming a punch for Maleficent's face.

Dazed from hitting the table, Aurora wasn't sure if the momentary enraged grimace flitting across Maleficent's face was just a figment of her imagination or not. What she did know she saw was Maleficent dodging the Klingon's clumsy lunge and then hitting him hard in the chin with her fist. He landed with a thud in an undignified heap on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Maleficent asked as she reached down to pull Aurora to her legs.

"I think so." Groaning, she gripped the back of her head where she had hit the floor. "Mostly."

"We'll have to get you back to the ship and let the doctor examine you." She paused and gave Aurora a pointed look. "Unless you plan on insulting even more Klingons, of course."

Aurora shook her head, an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks. "No," she mumbled meekly.

Leaning against Maleficent, Aurora turned towards the exit, only to come face to face with a group of Klingons, one of them attempting to wake up the one Maleficent knocked out. Having sobered quite quickly after being thrown across the room, Aurora didn't feel any of her earlier cockiness.

"You Federation people think you own the galaxy, don't you?" One of the Klingons exclaimed, aiming a disruptor at them.

Before anyone had time to act, a group of heavily armed soldiers rushed into the bar, all in similar uniforms. "Station security! Stand down!"

Looking from the soldiers to Maleficent and Aurora, the Klingons put away their weapons surprisingly quickly, albeit grumbling their discontent while they did it. Pulling their unconscious comrade to his feet, they marched out of the bar without further delay.

"This isn't over, _Federation_!" one of the Klingons shouted as he walked away.

When the Klingons had peacefully left the bar, one of the soldiers – what looked like the one in command – approached Maleficent and Aurora. "You two okay?"

"Nothing our ship's doctor can't handle," Maleficent assured him.

"Good. You should probably stay away from the Klingons from now on," the soldier told them. "They don't take kindly to insults or defeat."

Maleficent nodded curtly. "To put it mildly. Are we free to go?"

The soldier shrugged. "Sure."

Raising an eyebrow quizzically, Maleficent gave the soldier an odd look.

"Look, if we detained everyone involved in a fight on the station, we wouldn't have space for any visitors. We're mostly just here to break up fights, not to deal with anyone afterwards."

Maleficent's lips curled downward in distaste, so faintly that Aurora doubted anyone else noticed. "I see. Then thank you for your timely assistance."

When the soldiers left and the other patrons slowly went back to what they had been doing instead of gawking at the commotion, Aurora let out a tired breath, slumping against Maleficent. "Well, this went terribly."

"Indeed." She paused, adjusting her arm around Aurora's midriff to get a better grip. "I must say, I wasn't aware of your exhaustive knowledge of Klingon insults."

The noise Aurora made as she covered her increasingly blushing face with her hand was somewhere between a groan and a whine. "I've read some Klingon novels," she mumbled. "Pretty trashy novels."

"I see. Well, if your intent was to get close to being killed in a bar by a drunk Klingon, I'd say your usage of them was impeccable," Maleficent noted flatly.

"Let's... not talk about this, okay? And maybe not mention this to the others."

"Of course not," Maleficent hummed airily. "I'll just say you were to intoxicated to stand up on your own and fell. Would that be preferable?"

Aurora groaned pitifully, slumping further against Maleficent's body. "Let's just go back. You can scold me when we're on the ship."

With Aurora leaning on Maleficent, they made their way slowly towards the exit, weaving past table after table of people who either looked amused, intrigued or somewhat terrified. As they stepped outside, a Ferengi was waiting for them, stopping them with what Aurora assumed was supposed to be a friendly smile.

"Hey, I heard you were looking for someone?"

Aurora nodded hesitantly.

"In that case, you should talk to my employer. He'll find anything you need or want." His smile widened. "For the right price, of course."

"And who is this boss of yours?" Maleficent asked.

"He's called the Mediator. You'll find him here," the Ferengi said, holding out a small holographic note for them to take.

Maleficent took it cautiously, eyeing the Ferengi skeptically. "Do you always confront potential customers this personally?"

"My employer is _highly_ selective when it comes to his clients."

"And it only took him a few hours to decide on us?" Aurora asked, mirroring Maleficent's skepticism.

"A lone Starfleet ship, looking for someone out here? I'd say that's quite the interesting client."

Maleficent's expression hardened and her grip on Aurora became noticeably tighter. "I suppose we are. We'll keep your offer in mind."

It wasn't until the Ferengi was long lost in the crowd of people and they were well on there way back that Maleficent's grip – to Aurora's faint displeasure – loosened.

 

* * *

 

Despite Aurora insisting that she was perfectly fine, they headed straight to sickbay as soon as they got back onto the Fae, but only after Maleficent had threatened to carry Aurora over her shoulder all the way there unless she went willingly. (A small part of Aurora – one she tried her best to ignore – found that scenario particularly interesting.) To Aurora's relief, only Doctor Neterr and a nurse was present in sickbay when she and Maleficent entered.

"Captain?" Neterr prompted, looking up from his terminal. "Do you need something?"

"She hit her head and possibly her back," Maleficent explained before Aurora had time to come up with a reply.

"I see. Not too severely, I take it, since you were able to walk here?" he asked and motioned Aurora to sit down on one of the biobeds. 

"It's not that bad." Aurora reluctantly sat down, not quite able to keep herself steady. "I'm just a little sore, really."

Neterr hummed and ran his tricorder scanner over her neck and back. "You'll have some light bruising and perhaps some lingering pain for a day or two, but apart from that, you're fine. I do, however, notice alcohol in your system." He replaced the scanner in the tricorder and gave her a curious look. "Were you in a bar fight?"

"Well..."

"Our dear captain decided to use her vast linguistic skills to insult a fellow patron of the bar." Maleficent's lips curved up in a faint ghost of a smile. "Apparently, Klingons do not appreciate hearing their mothers being–"

"Commander!" Aurora hissed. "I told you _not_ to say anything!"

Maleficent's face was a model of innocence. "Oh dear. I must have misunderstood, Captain. Perhaps you should have spoken to _me_ in my native tongue as well, instead of squandering your talents on the local drunk Klingons."

" _Ponfo mirann_ ," Aurora muttered with a hiccup and crossed her arms with a sullen glare towards Maleficent.

"I see your diplomatic skills truly come out to shine when you're intoxicated," Maleficent noted, her smile only widening from Aurora's insult. Taking Aurora by the arm, she gave Neterr a quick nod of her head. "Thank you, Doctor."

It wasn't until they were well out of sickbay that Aurora realized through her alcohol-ridden haze that Maleficent was leading her around as if she was all but incapable of walking on her own. Deciding that a captain should be shown a bit more dignity, she tried to pull herself loose but only managed to stumble on her own feet and almost fall over, getting caught by Maleficent in the last moment.

"I can walk _perfectly_ on my own," Aurora argued even though she more or less clung to Maleficent's arm. She hiccuped again. "More or less."

"Of course, Captain. I'm sure you simply pretend not to," Maleficent drawled. "Now, unless you plan on let the entire crew know what you were drinking at the station the last few hours, I suggest we go somewhere a bit more private to discuss what to do next."

"You j–" another hiccup, "you just want me alone so you can lecture me on proper dipo– diplomatic procedures. Like not insulting Klingons. Although..." The memory of Maleficent punching her attacker in the bar popped up and she grinned mischievously. "I think you liked hitting that guy."

"Hardly," Maleficent scoffed. "If I wanted to brawl with Klingons I would have done it in the holodeck, where there's less risk of diplomatic incidents.

"Well, you sure have seemed a lot more upbeat after you hit him than these last few weeks. Maybe you just enjoy spending time in shady bars or wasting a lot of time asking people about stuff," Aurora noted airily. " _Or_..." her smile grew decidedly more smug as she pieced a few more things together in her mind, "you like doing stuff with me. You _missed_ me."

Maleficent looked anything but pleased – she was doing her "Vulcan pout" again, Aurora noted with glee – but didn't offer any objections, instead tugging Aurora along to the nearest turbolift to the sound of Aurora's loud snickering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Her degree in Interspecies Relations sure shows, doesn't it?
> 
> For those of you wondering, most of the words Aurora use to insult the Klingon are various kinds of not too highly esteemed animals and generic expletives. The long sentences would roughly be translated to "your mother licks dog butts on a regular basis, asshole". If you wanted to know.
> 
> "Ponfo mirann" means something along the lines of "go to hell". Aurora is quite the foulmouthed drunk.


	11. Taking the scenic route

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, and some focus on yet another secondary character because I'm a complete sucker for them.
> 
> **Little wordlist for those who need it**  
>  Nausicaans are big ugly humanoid folks who usually shoot first and never bother to ask any questions at all.  
> Breen and Cardassians are races that often are on rather bad terms with the Federation.  
> The CRM 114 is an actual weapon, yup. Showcased in Star Trek: DS9.  
> That stew, however, is not. (Yes I may have a thing for writing food okay? sue me)  
> Denobulans are a race of friendly humanoids, part of the Federation. Pretty sure their hamsters aren't official canon.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me and hope you'll enjoy the update! Also, if you want to bug me about updating or in any other way interact with me you can find me on tumblr: [nyczsq.tumblr.com](https://nyczsq.tumblr.com)

There was a certain sense of nostalgia to it, being back aboard the station. A nostalgia that made Terei's fingers twitch for her guns every time someone walked by a little too close. Sure, the war was long gone but the station looked the same. Same dim lighting, same rusty bulkheads, same dirty metal floor. Even the people hadn't changed much, all looking as nondescript and shady as they had been the last time she was here.

A faint shiver shook the station, easily felt even through the soles of Terei's boots. It had always astounded her a little, how borderline decrepit stations like these actually managed to function year after year. Every bulkhead and pillar seemed to struggle against the pull of the artificial gravity, looking moments away from collapse. And yet, there was something comforting about it. Shoot up any Starfleet ship and the result was a mangled heap of garbage, but this station? Someone could probably set off a bomb and the difference would be marginal.

They turned a corner, down the stairs, deeper into the station. The hum that perforated the station – the generators, maybe the ventilation? – grew stronger every meter they descended, as did that distinct smell that Terei had never quite been able to single out. Cardassians and Romulans passed them but paid them no attention, far too busy with their own problems to deal with political issues that had never really reached down here, even during the height of the war.

"Hey, Commander?" came the hushed call from behind. 

"Don't call me that," Terei replied with a mutter. "We're supposed to be gun dealers, act like it."

"Sorry." Diaval adjusted his jacket a little, glancing at the passersby as he stepped up beside Terei.

After a moment of awkward silence passed. "Is there a problem?" Terei didn't bother to hide her annoyance. It was one thing to go on a mission with a group of fellow soldiers, but having to rely on people she had never been in a fight with always made her testy. She didn't know how they would react, how they functioned under stress or how they acted, no matter how good they looked on paper.

"We're here to ask around, right?"

"Yes?"

"Then why do we need the rifles?" He pulled at the strap that kept the disruptor rifle hanging on his back. "We could take out Borg with these."

Terei shrugged. "Would you rather get vaporized by some trigger happy merchant?"

"We've got standard disruptor pistols–"

"You know what the Borg have?" she interrupted. "Shock value. If a cube shows up, you can bet a lot of civilians – even soldiers – are going to give up right away. Point is, if we go in with big guns and look like we know how to use them, chances are we won't have to fire a single shot."

Diaval didn't reply, but judging from his expression, he wasn't particularly happy about it.

Scoffing, Terei shook her head. "We're in one of the worst places the quadrant has to offer. What did you expect? Federation diplomacy is about as effective here as punching yourself in the face. If we're _lucky_ we won't have to hurt anyone." She tossed a quick glance over her shoulder towards Fenrir who looked even more uncomfortable than Diaval, before turning back to Diaval. "Besides, I thought _you_ knew how to use that rifle. Didn't you fight in the Bajoran Resistance?"

"I did." Diaval scowled, his eyes growing a little unfocused as his jaw tightened. "It's not exactly a fond memory."

"We're not here to have fun, Diaval," Terei said flatly.

"I know that."

Abruptly, Terei grabbed Diaval's arm and stopped dead in her tracks, locking eyes with him. "And _I_ need to know that I can trust you if something happens. You need to get the Federation out of your head if we're going to make this work. We're gun dealers on a station where _everyone_ shoots first and asks questions later. If you can't deal with that, we turn back right now."

Diaval's mouth was drawn in a thin line and his eyes were hard as flint. "Let's just do this."

"Good." Her lips twisted up in a chilly smile. "Just making sure we're on the same page." Letting go of Diaval, she turned to Fenrir. "Just basic weapon training, right? Then you take cover if we get into trouble."

"Not a problem," Fenrir replied, eyes warily flitting between Diaval and Terei.

"Let's get going then. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

 

* * *

 

Pounding pain. Aurora's head felt like it was coming apart at the seams and her mouth was utterly devoid of any kind of moisture. She moaned pitifully and buried her face deeper into her pillow.

"You're awake," came the dry remark from behind her.

With a complete lack of grace, Aurora somehow managed to turn herself around. She vaguely recognized the surroundings as her quarters. Next to her bed stood Maleficent, lips turned down in a faint scowl and a hypospray in her hand. 

"Mal?" Aurora croaked, squinting up at Maleficent. "What–" Her voice broke and she had to clear her throat before trying again. "What time is it?"

"Late." Leaning down, Maleficent placed the hypospray against Aurora's neck and activated it. "This should help with the pain you're no doubt experiencing." Her voice was anything but compassionate.

"Oh. Thanks." Aurora waited a moment, then slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, her hair flailing wildly in all directions. "I hope it works quickly," she muttered as she did her best to get her hair in some semblance of order.

Maleficent said nothing, but her smugness spoke volumes.

"Keep looking like that and I'm sure I can get you locked away for insubordination," Aurora grumbled.

Somehow, without even smiling, Maleficent managed to look even more smug. "I highly doubt that, Captain." She put away the hypospray on the bedside table and headed for the replicator. "In any case, you should eat something; it will help with the headache. I took the liberty of preparing dinner."

At the mention of food, Aurora immediately perked up, at least as much as she could in her hungover state.

The replicator whirred and Maleficent soon returned with two bowls. "Perhaps you've tried this before."

Despite her headache, Aurora peered curiously at the contents of the bowl. It was some kind of stew, most likely Vulcan as she could recognize some of the vegetables from her earlier forays into Vulcan cuisine. "No, I don't think so." She sniffed, taking in the faint, almost bitter scent. "Is that Andorian tuber root? I thought this was a Vulcan dish."

"It's a relatively new recipe, mostly Vulcan but inspired by other Federation cultures," Maleficent explained. "It's called _rak-irr_ and has become rather popular among Vulcans lately, despite the spiciness."

Aurora hummed appreciatively, her mouth busy enjoying a spoonful of the stew. "It's really good."

They ate in silence for a while, sitting next to each other on Aurora's bed. It wasn't until she only had a little bit left of her portion that Aurora even realized their rather unusual position, especially considering Maleficent's reserved demeanor up until less than a day earlier.

"So," she began, unsure of how to put it but not willing to just let the moment pass. "Is, uh..." She frowned, staring down into her bowl before continuing. "Does this mean you'll stop avoiding me now?"

Maleficent didn't reply at first, but Aurora could practically feel her body tensing up from the question.

"I remember what you said in the bar and I understand that you felt uncomfortable, but..." Sighing, Aurora put down her bowl on the bedside table and turned to look at Maleficent. "First and foremost, we're Starfleet officers and I need to be able to trust my first officer, especially when we're in a situation like this."

"It won't happen again, Captain." Maleficent's expression was blank and completely unreadable, the model Vulcan expression that intrigued Aurora almost as much as it frustrated her.

"Okay, good." Aurora nodded halfheartedly. "Besides, I wasn't joking about my father, you know. He'd make any Vulcan outburst look like a Denobulan hamster having a temper tantrum," she remarked in an attempt to lighten the mood just a little.

Maleficent scrunched her nose up in displeasure. "I highly doubt that."

"Well, _you_ haven't met my father."

"Apparently something I should be very grateful for." Maleficent's expression softened slightly at Aurora's responding laughter. "I take it you're feeling better?"

"Yeah." Aurora's smile was tired but genuine. It felt good to finally have cleared the air, and without a confrontation like at the bar. "Thanks for the food. And the hypospray."

"You're welcome." Maleficent put away her own bowl and then reached for a PADD. "Now, if you're feeling better, we should decide what to do about the Mediator. I'd rather not be taken by surprise the next time his people show up."

 

* * *

 

Several hours in and not a single clue. Whoever the pirates were, they had been smart enough to hide their tracks pretty damn well, and it was only turning Terei's mood more and more sour. Between the tension of being on a mission with two to her unknown partners and the simmering hostility that seemed to permeate the station itself, Terei's trigger finger had gotten more than a little itchy. The whole station was a powder keg just waiting to blow, and around every corner lay yet another potential match that could light the proverbial fuse. This was why she had never considered joining any kind of special forces unit in Starfleet; going undercover was far too stressful.

Of course, even without the undercover part, this mission wasn't particularly pleasant. Diaval was quiet and tense, clearly not happy about Terei's confrontational mindset, regardless of what he had said earlier. Fenrir, on the other hand, didn't feel as hostile, even though they had been forced to go through some minor cosmetic surgery to appear as a Bajoran instead of a Betazoid. (Walking around with a telepath hadn't seemed like a particularly good idea for intelligence gathering purposes, not to mention the fact that Betazoids were closely tied to the Federation.)

Overall, Fenrir would have been fairly alright if they hadn't kept shooting Terei wary glances whenever they thought she wasn't looking. She couldn't feel them reading her mind but she wasn't sure if she even could. Sure, it was useful to have a telepath along for intelligence gathering, but she would rather have had another _actual_ Bajoran than a Betazoid disguised as one if it meant she didn't have to deal with this kind of crap. Finally, after yet another of those probing looks, Terei had had enough.

"Is there a problem, Aewan?" she snapped. "Or are you just poking around in my head for sport?"

Fenrir flinched, quickly mustering an unconvincing innocent expression. "Sorry, uh, Ma'am. I wasn't doing... _that_." They cleared their throat, unwilling to meet Terei's eyes. "I was just... you're not what I expected."

"Really. And what's so unusual about me?"

Fenrir gave an uncomfortable shrug of their shoulder. "You don't seem like the science type, is all."

Terei scoffed. "Yeah, a decade or two in the Marines will do that to you."

"You were in the Marine Corps?" Diaval cut in, sounding more interested than he had all day.

"Served there throughout the war. Name a major ground battle and chances are I was in it." Stopping outside a shop, she eyed the sign above the door and then her PADD. "If you're done trying to figure me out, let's try this one." Without waiting for a reply, she went inside.

The shop was about as shady as she had expected, both figuratively and lighting-wise. The walls were covered in weapons of all kinds, from small phasers to huge grenade launchers that most likely required an exoskeleton or augmented limbs to lift, let alone operate. Behind a counter in the back of the shop sat a large Nausicaan man, fiddling with a Cardassian-made disruptor rifle. Seeing the trio entering, he paused his work.

"You here to buy?"

"Depends," Terei replied as she ran her eyes over the assorted guns lining the walls. "Have any Starfleet tech?"

The Nausicaan barked out a hard laugh. "Do I look like I deal that crap? Might as well be throwing rocks." 

"Well, our client wants some and they're prepared to pay a lot of cash for a lot of rocks," Terei drawled. "In fact, enough for us to pay for information on where to find some."

"Really." The Nausicaan narrowed his eyes at the three of them. "Two Bajorans and an Andorian, eager to find Starfleet tech. If I didn't know better, I might think you were a bunch of Starfleet agents." He grinned, his face twisting grotesquely from the gesture. "Trading Starfleet weapons without a permit is illegal, you know."

Terei rolled her eyes. "If it was legal I wouldn't have to come to a dump like this, would I?"

The Nausicaan's grin evaporated as quickly as it had appeared. "So you're gun dealers." It wasn't as much a question as it was a challenge. He rose and stepped over to a particularly large weapon hanging on the wall. "Why don't you tell me what this is, then," he said, pulling it down and aiming it in the direction of Terei and the others.

"A Breen CRM-114," Fenrir remarked, much to Terei's surprise.

"One shot of that thing and you'd cut a hole through at least five walls behind us," Terei added, shooting a bewildered glance back towards Fenrir. "That is, if you were an idiot that kept loaded weapons lying around your shop." She didn't bother to mention that no one in their right mind would fire a weapon like that inside their own shop, suspicious agents or not.

The Nausicaan let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle, something Terei could only guess was meant to be appreciative. Replacing the gun on the wall, he went back to the counter. "No one on this level is going to risk selling Starfleet tech," he told them. "Try the bottom floor. They're pretty desperate down there."

Terei nodded, pulled out a credit chip and tossed it onto the counter. "For your trouble. Nice to see a Nausicaan who uses his head for something other than bashing in doors."

At that, the Nausicaan laughed loudly. "Come back when you want some real firepower, Andorian," he called after them as they left.

"Well," Diaval muttered when they were outside. "That went better than expected, I guess. It's getting late, though; we should head back to the ship for the night."

"Yeah. We'll head for the lower levels first thing tomorrow," Terei agreed. Then she turned to Fenrir with a raised eyebrow. "Do you actually know anything about guns or did you just..." she made a face and a vague gesture towards their head, "cheat?"

"I cheated. Figured he if anyone would know what gun he was holding," Fenrir replied.

Terei regarded Fenrir for a moment, then sighed and shook her head, too tired to really decide what she felt about it. To be honest, she wasn't even sure if she was glad that they had gotten through the day without any fights – at least a fight would have let her lose some of that tension that kept humming just under her skin, making her feel like a live grenade, ready to blow at any moment. All this waiting, always staying alert, that was what truly got to her.

"Let's just go back to the ship," she mumbled, adjusting the position of the weapon slung across her back and walking off without sparing a look at the others.


	12. A different perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we're back, with this chapter, some new faces and a lot more! I've got at least three more chapters all but finished (and even more outlined) so expect a new chapter uploaded every other day now until I've run out of stuff. I hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> I don't think a wordlist is needed in this chapter (but please let me know if it is). As always I encourage you to check out any terms you don't recognize on Memory Alpha. Oh, except maybe "raktajino" which is a kind of coffee-like beverage.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! And if you've got questions/ideas/encouragement/anything else, please leave a comment :)

Among the Zuvar mining station's inhabitants and frequent visitors, the Mediator was a well-known institution. With offices near the center of the station, the Mediator was easy to visit and hard to miss. It had originally started out as a middleman, a way for people of dubious ethics to make deals without worrying about getting double crossed. In time, the Mediator had gotten more and more known for trading in information than being a neutral third party, until it was almost only known as an information broker.

The Mediator himself, a Cardassian man named Sevor, was nowadays only the head of the organization, in charge of a network of people large enough to make sure Sevor always had access to the best information about anything and everything happening on the station. Still, he and his employees were not all-knowing, something that had become painfully obvious ever since the Starfleet ship had arrived at the station. After inviting the Starfleet officers, he had spent most of his time researching both the ship and Starfleet in general. Pacing his office, he had pored over all the information he could find, but since he had to rely on stolen and smuggled information about Starfleet's ships and personnel, even the latest data was several weeks old.

USS Fae. A small, short range science vessel, only eight decks and a crew of eighty people. Fairly advanced technology, but mostly focused on science and not on warfare. What was it doing here? From his contacts and associates throughout the station, Sevor had only heard bits and pieces, various rumors that couldn't be independently verified. The Fae was looking for someone, or stocking up on weapons, or hunting smugglers; it really wasn't clear. What _was_ readily apparent was the state of the ship. According to his reports, the Fae was in pretty bad shape, the damage on the hull visible by the naked eye. The ship must have been in a conflict recently or a victim of some kind of spatial anomaly. A particularly bad ion storm, perhaps. If their life support or warp drive had been damaged, even a station as unfriendly as this one would have been a better alternative than abandoning ship.

The sound of an incoming message pulled him out of his thoughts. He tapped his combadge. "Yes?"

" _Two Starfleet officers just arrived,_ " one of his assistants said. " _A human and a Vulcan. Should I show them in?_ "

"Yes. Please do." He tapped his combadge again, allowing himself a smile. Hopefully this would give him some more answers.

The doors opened and the two officers stepped inside: a rather young, friendly looking human and a taller, slightly imposing Vulcan. The first officer and the chief engineer, the same two officers one of his employees had met earlier.

"Ah, the Starfleet officers," Sevor said, walking up to the human and shaking her hand. "Welcome. You must be Commander Aurora Rose."

"Thank you," Rose replied with a smile. "I presume you're the Mediator your employee spoke about?"

Sevor nodded. "That is correct, although please, call me Sevor. 'Mediator' is more of a title the station has given me." Turning to the Vulcan, he gave her a curious look. "And you must be Commander Amalia Moors. Considering your heritage, I'm not sure if a handshake or a Vulcan salute would be more appropriate."

The look Commander Moors gave him was chilly, even for a Vulcan. "Either greeting is acceptable, Mr. Sevor." Without waiting for Sevor to do either, she continued, "It would seem you have us at a disadvantage. There is not much we have been able to find out about you."

Despite Moors' rather hostile response, Sevor didn't let anything show. "That is good to hear. I wouldn't be much of an information broker if I couldn't control information about my own organization, would I? Please, have a seat." He sat down in one of the chairs that stood in a corner of the room and motioned Rose and Moors to join him. "However, as good as I and my employees are at what we do, we have still not found out what your reason for visiting the station is. There are plenty of rumors floating around, even ones that say that you're here to seize the station itself." Sevor paused, studying Commander Rose while absentmindedly tapping his finger against the table. She stared back, her face almost as blank as the Vulcan's. "But I deal with information, not rumors, so why don't you tell me why you're here and what you think I can do for you?"

Commander Rose laced her fingers together, her expression growing more serious. "We are looking for someone. A Starfleet officer. Human, male, in his twenties."

"Is he on the run from Federation authorities? Some kind of criminal?" Sevor asked, hoping to provoke her into revealing as much information as possible. The sooner he could figure out what Starfleet wanted from him and from the station, the sooner he could use it to his advantage.

"He was abducted," Commander Moors said sharply. "While we don't know who did it, we are fairly certain they passed through this station at some point during the last few weeks."

"I see." The line between giving too much and too little information was always thin, even for a seasoned information broker like himself. Too much information and he'd be at a disadvantage, too little and the clients would leave. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that."

Both Rose and Moors stiffened at the words, and he quickly realized his mistake. They were impatient, reeked of desperation and were unusually hostile, something he hadn't expected from Starfleet officers. A new strategy was required.

"However," he continued smoothly, hoping his pause hadn't been too obvious, "I can tell you who _might_ know, free of charge. The corporation running the station – Jeresea, you no doubt dealt with them while docking here – don't have much surveillance inside the station, but they do have it _outside_ the station. Anyone docking, orbiting, or passing by the station will be caught by their sensors."

Rose and Moors exchanged a quick glance, communicating something Sevor couldn't interpret.

"Thank you. We'll have to give them a visit, then," Commander Rose said and rose from her chair.

"I wish you the best of luck, Commander," Sevor replied, getting to his feet as well. "I will provide you with any information I find in the future – for a price, of course."

"Of course," Commander Moors said flatly. "Good day."

When he was alone again, Sevor let himself relax. Even though he hadn't gained all that much concrete information, he still felt the meeting had been fruitful. If Starfleet was going to get involved with Jeresea's business, every piece of information he could find would be worth enough gold-pressed latinum to make even the most jaded Ferengi lightheaded.

 

* * *

 

Jeresea's corporate headquarters was located several floors above, in the uppermost levels of the station. Clean, bright and comparatively spacious, it was a sharp contrast to the rest of the station. Most visitors to the station never saw it, doing all their business on the lower levels where all the cargo exchanged hands. Up here, only the investors and the occasional diplomats went, safe from the messy day-to-day business of the station.

One of the offices belonged to Jastan Saar, Chief Security Officer of Jeresea. She had been with the company for almost twenty years, slowly making her way up the corporate ladder, known for being thorough, competent, and practical. As head of security in Jeresea, she had reorganized the security force and Jeresea's policies until the visitors and inhabitants of the station were more or less governing themselves, barring firefights. It had cut down on their costs immensely and made her job remarkably easier.

" _Ma'am?_ " Her secretary's voice over the comm system pierced the silence in Jastan's office.

"Go ahead."

" _There are some people from Starfleet here, Ma'am. They're_ requesting _a meeting with someone in charge and security don't know how to handle them._ "

Jastan's heart sank. Despite being a Rigelian – one of the Federation's member species – she had no love for the Federation or its Starfleet. She was a practical person and the Federation's lofty ideals were seldom practical in the real world, outside of Earth and Vulcan and a few other bastions of so-called enlightenment. Still, they were a force to be reckoned with and she wouldn't risk a conflict because of some issues of philosophy.

"I'll deal with the matter personally," Jastan replied, already on her way out of her office.

The Starfleet officers were waiting just inside the main entrance, standing calmly next to a few Jeresea security officers. Donning her best diplomatic smile, Jastan strode over to them. "Hello. I'm Jastan Saar, in charge of security on board the station. What can I do for you?"

One of the Starfleet officers, a young-looking human woman – although Jastan really couldn't tell age in humans – smiled in return and took a step forward. "I'm Captain Aurora Rose of the USS Fae and this is my second in command, Commander Amalia Moors." She glanced around. "Is there somewhere we could talk more privately?"

"Certainly," Jastan replied, her smile growing strained. Of course she would have to deal with a Starfleet _diplomat_ of all things, a profession she truly loathed. She nodded to Commander Moors, a Vulcan she assumed was mostly there for moral support or intimidation. At least the Vulcan would be easier to handle. "If you would follow me."

They sat down in one of the larger conference rooms, shielded and closed enough to be private yet large enough to project a certain air of superiority.

"Two weeks ago, a ship attacked us and took one of our crew members, and its trail led here," Captain Rose began. "We believe it may have passed by the station or docked with it at some point during the last two weeks. We'd appreciate any help you can give us, but most of all we would need to see your surveillance recordings from that time."

A small part of Jastan wanted to reply with a "no" and end it there, but she wasn't a petty person and hadn't gotten so far by acting without thinking. Starfleet loved their diplomacy almost as much as their regulations and naive ideals, and that meant if she wanted to get rid of them quickly she'd have to do things by the book.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your officer, Captain, and I and Jeresea will of course assist you in any way possible to make sure they are returned to you swiftly. However, I'm afraid our privacy policy doesn't allow me to share our surveillance data to with a third party without clear and irrefutable evidence."

"Well, can you look through it yourselves if we send over information about our missing officer?"

"I'm afraid that would still be in violation of our privacy policy."

Captain Rose's smile faltered. "You would rather appear part of a kidnapping than make an exception?"

Jastan rose, keeping her palms lightly on the table. "We take our clients' privacy very seriously, Captain. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Please enjoy your stay on board the station."

She left the room and signaled for some guards nearby. "Show these officers back to the lower levels. Their business here is finished."

As she walked back to her office, she sighed. Starfleet was a real pain to deal with, but this meeting had gotten better than many others, especially during the war. No ultimatums, no violent threats, no blockades or raids. Not even a firefight.

 

* * *

 

"When this is over, I'll kill you!" Dihat hissed to the Nausicaan next to her. Maybe it wasn't _entirely_ his fault the operation had gone to shit, but she needed to yell at someone and he was the closest target.

"Good luck," the Nausicaan grunted a reply. Then he looked over at her, down at her gun and then up at her again with a crooked grin. "With that gun, you're going to need it."

"This gun is big enough to shove up your–"

Dihat's words were cut short as another high powered disruptor blast hit the ground only a feet away from them. What had seemed like an easy plan to shut up some overly inquisitive Federation-looking people had been anything but. Dihat and her mercenaries had quickly found themselves on the receiving end of a small but highly trained group of soldiers apparently armed to the teeth. An embarrassingly short time later, she only had a handful of guards left standing.

The Nausicaan next to her suddenly made a run for it, trying to flank their attackers, but he had only barely left cover when a disruptor blast hit him in the chest and he collapsed onto the ground, motionless. Dead or stunned, Dihat couldn't tell.

"Shit, shit, fucking shit..." Dihat muttered, clinging harder to her rifle.

"Grenade!" someone yelled just before a loud explosion turned everything white and filled Dihat's ears with a nothing but ringing.She stumbled away, hoping to escape in the commotion. Maybe she could get to the turbolift nearby, find some Klingons to bribe, or some Romulans–

Someone grabbed her shoulder before she could get away, shoving her to the ground. When her eyes eventually started functioning as the should again and the ringing in her ears died down, she could vaguely make out two figures looming over her.

"Well shit," she slurred, fumbling for her gun.

"Try anything and you'll get vaporized." The voice – belonging to what looked like a pissed-off Andorian – sounded sincere enough for Dihat to stop.

"What do you want?" Dihat glared up at the figure above her, trying to get a feel for who it was she was dealing with.

The Andorian leaned down. "You already know what we want." She gestured with her disruptor towards the rifle in Dihat's lap. It was a standard Starfleet issue phaser rifle that Dihat had gotten hold of a week or two earlier. "Tell us about your rifle and you might just walk away from here unharmed."

"Yeah?" Dihat snorted. "You want specs or what? Go read the manual, dumbass."

A Bajoran man crouched next to her. He looked too tired to try to intimidate her. "Just tell us where you got it. Who sold it?"

"It was _weeks_ ago. Maybe I don't remember it," Dihat drawled, never one to back down easily.

A disruptor rifle pointed directly at Dihat's face made the point perfectly clear. "And maybe _I'm_ a little trigger happy," the Andorian grunted.

Dihat winced and held her hands up in defeat. Even she wasn't that stupid. "Alright, fine. _Fine_. Just be careful with that."

 

* * *

 

Jastan Saar lounged in her office the next day, sipping on a lukewarm cup of raktajino. She had just had lunch, a welcome respite from her brewing worries about the Starfleet presence on the station. After the officers had left the day before, Jastan had made sure to learn everything there was to know about the ship and its crew.

USS Fae, a small, short-range science vessel. Minimal armaments, crew capacity of less than a hundred, a top speed of only warp eight. On top of that, between the clear damage to its hull and the large and frequent shipments of spare parts that was brought over to the ship, it seemed to be in pretty bad shape. Overall, Captain Rose's story sounded plausible, although it didn't explain why they didn't have any backup, considering the volatility of the neighborhood.

" _Ma'am?_ " Jastan's secretary's voice rang out over the comm system in her room.

Jastan pursed her lips in frustration, already knowing what her secretary was about to tell her. "Is Starfleet back?"

" _Yes, Ma'am. They're dem–_ requesting _a meeting with you again._ "

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

She finished her drink slowly, not wanting to seem too eager to please Starfleet or its diplomats. She was still in charge and it wouldn't do to have them forget it. About ten minutes had gone by when she finally put away her cup and left her office.

As soon as Jastan saw the Starfleet officers, she knew something was up. The two officers looked anything but happy and if they had returned so soon, they must have found something new to bargain with. She supposed she should at least be happy they hadn't brought a security detail to take what they wanted. Yet.

"Ah, Captain Rose. Commander Moors. Welcome back." If they were annoyed by her tardiness, they didn't show it. "I assume you have some kind of urgent business. Again. Please come with me." Without waiting to see if they followed her, she turned and made her way through the corridors to the conference room they had used the day before.

"We have some new information we believe you will like to see," Commander Moors said when they were seated around the conference table.

"Go on."

Commander Moors reached down for a small container she had brought along and pulled out a gray, oblong object. She then proceeded to put it down on the table harder than necessary, causing a loud bang and the table to shiver slightly. "My apologies," she added, looking entirely unapologetic, even for a Vulcan.

Jastan inspected the object. "That is a hyperspanner. Is this supposed to mean something to me?"

"That is a _Starfleet_ hyperspanner, sold in one of the shops on this station," Commander Moors corrected. "Incidentally, this also happens to be a hyperspanner that was stolen from us two weeks ago, at the same time our officer was abducted. Of course, as I'm sure you're fully aware of, Starfleet takes buying and selling of its technology with out required permits and certifications _very_ seriously."

"Of course," Jastan said, her lips drawn in a thin line. The meeting had barely started and it was already taking a turn for the worse.

"We also have the electronic records of when it was added to the shop's inventory, eyewitness accounts of transactions involving Starfleet technology, and several items with serial numbers that show that they were stolen from the USS Fae before being put up for sale on this station."

Clearing her throat and straightening in her chair, Jastan was determined to stop the conversation before things could get any more out of hand. "I can assure you that I will take immediate action to make sure anyone selling illegal Starfleet technology will be dealt with swiftly and severely." She jotted a few things down on a PADD for emphasis.

"Of course, that is not all," Commander Moors continued smoothly.

Jastan's mood dropped further. Clenching her jaw, she waited for Moors to continue.

"As our officer was abducted by the same people that stole these items from us, it is _very_ likely that, since the stolen items are here, our officer is too."

Jastan had to scoff at that. "I'm sorry, Commander, but that is a big leap. Selling stolen technology is one thing, selling organs – or whatever you think they would do with your officer – that is an entirely different thing. I'll admit that there is a _possibility_ that he passed through here, but even that is just based on speculation and conjecture. It is _not_ enough evidence for us to violate our clients' privacy. Do you even know how many people come here with similar requests?" (Granted, not many did, but they didn't need to know that.)

As Commander Moors was about to respond, Captain Rose stopped her, placing her hand on Moors' arm. Then Rose turned back to Jastan with a smile that was about as friendly as a knife to the throat.

"What you and Jeresea can or can't do isn't really the issue here."

Jastan bristled. "Of course it is. We have the sensor data that you want."

"What I mean is that while this evidence may not be enough for you, it _will_ be enough for Starfleet Command." Captain Rose paused, her smile growing even sharper. "They their officers' security very seriously."

"If that's the case, why aren't there more ships here already?"

"Because Starfleet can be... a little slow. If we have to turn to Starfleet, it might take days before anything happens, and then weeks for them to search the station. We would like to do this quickly and efficiently."

"When you put it like that, I don't have much choice, do I?" Jastan said flatly.

"Either you search through your recordings for our officer, or you risk having half the Fourth Fleet on your doorstep within a few days, combing through the station level by level."

"Well then." Jastan stood stiffly, knowing when to admit defeat. "I'll make sure that won't be necessary."


	13. Questionable activities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have some more Malora! There's lots of it in this chapter.
> 
> Not much more to say, I think everything should be fairly self-explanatory. Enjoy!

Maleficent stepped out of engineering feeling better than she had for several weeks. The repairs were coming along surprisingly fast – no doubt thanks to Balthazar's excellent organizing abilities – and from the latest message Jeresea had sent them, it sounded like they too were making headway in the search for Ensign Scarlett. For once, she felt like the ship and its crew were on the right way and moving faster by the hour.

"Commander Moors to the captain," she said, tapping her combadge. She had a report to deliver and go through, a few decisions that had to be made and a few things to approve.

No answer.

"Captain Rose, respond."

Again, no reply.

Maleficent frowned. Had Aurora fallen asleep?

"Computer, locate Captain Rose."

" _Captain Aurora Rose is on board the USS Fae._ "

Some of Maleficent's worries dissipated. At least Aurora wasn't out on the station searching for Ensign Scarlett on her own.

"Computer, _where_ on the ship is Captain Rose."

" _Captain Aurora Rose is on board the USS Fae._ "

Maleficent sighed. Clearly, there was still room for improvements in the repairs of the computer core.

"Computer, specify the location."

" _The USS Fae, designation NCC-77910, is a Nova-class Federation starship. It has eight decks. Its hull is made of..._ "

The computer continued to spout off useless trivia about the ship but Maleficent tuned it out. If the computer wouldn't help her find the captain, she would simply have to do it on her own. With large parts of the ship still sealed off or being actively repaired, it shouldn't take too long to find her.

She took the turbolift to the bridge, only to find it disappointingly empty, the only one there being an ensign manning the helm. With a nod to the ensign, she headed into the captain's ready room, but there wasn't any sign of Aurora there either. 

Maleficent's next stop was their quarters. (When had she begun to think of it as theirs instead of Aurora's? She didn't know. She pushed the irrelevant thought aside.) The room was empty, and there were no clues that would tell her where Aurora might be. Frowning, Maleficent headed back to the turbolift.

On deck two, she headed for the mess hall, hoping she might find Aurora engrossed in a book. Perhaps some study of alien cultures? That was sure to have her riveted to the text, perhaps engrossed enough to miss Maleficent's hails. That was if they had even gotten through, of course – Maleficent still wasn't entirely sure just how broken the comm system was.

As it wasn't time to eat, the mess hall was fairly empty as well. A few officers were scattered across the sparsely decorated room, most sitting with a cup one hand and a PADD in the other. Sprawled out in one of the few couches sat Commander Terei, staring blankly out through the window. Normally, Maleficent wouldn't want to intrude – especially not with an officer she didn't know too well – but she needed to find Aurora.

"Commander Terei?"

Terei stirred, her antennas twitching in surprise, and she turned towards Maleficent. "Oh, Commander."

"Have you seen the captain recently?"

Terei took a swig from her cup and winced. "Today?"

"Yes."

"I think I saw her in the corridors a few hours ago. She was carrying a package or something. I'm not sure." Terei looked around the room, squinting in displeasure. "Is the comm system down again?"

"Perhaps." At least she couldn't rule out the possibility. "I suppose I'll have to continue my search. Thank you."

"Any time," Terei replied and turned back towards the window.

 

* * *

 

Half an hour later, Aurora was still missing. Sickbay, the shuttlebay, even the waverider, they were all empty. In a worse mood than when she had left, Maleficent marched back into main engineering, seeking out Diaval.

"Do you know where the captain is?" she asked before he had time to get out a single word.

"I... think she said something about the cargo bay?"

Maleficent's frowned deepened. "What would she be doing in the cargo bay?"

"I don't know," Diaval said with a shrug. "She carried a package and asked if cargo bay two was used for anything."

"I see." What could the captain be doing in the cargo bay with a strange package?

Maleficent left main engineering, taking the turbolift up to deck three. As so many other parts of the ship, the deck was more or less deserted. Being one of the less vital decks, the repairs here weren't prioritized. Flickering lights, burned-out displays, and half-open doors littered the sides of the corridors. The door to cargo bay two was open as well, it's panel broken and the doors manually locked in their open state with what looked like a broken piece of bulkhead welded to the door frame. Maleficent wasn't sure if she wanted to know why it was there or what would happen if someone tried to force the door closed.

She entered the cargo bay and was just about to call out when she spotted Aurora between two large crates, her back towards Maleficent. Aurora had taken off both her uniform jacket and her shirt and was now only in her pants and her sleeveless top, doing pull-ups on a metal bar resting on top of the crates.

Maleficent had to admit that the ease by which Aurora was pulling herself up – over and over again – surprised her. Maybe it was because of Aurora's small stature or her interests in diplomacy and culture, but Maleficent had never considered the fact that Aurora could be especially physically fit. Suddenly Aurora's willingness to go head to head with a drunken Klingon seemed more logical, if only slightly.

She wasn't entirely sure how many minutes had passed – surely no more than one or two – when she realized she still hadn't announced her entrance. Clearing her throat, she said, "Captain."

Aurora whipped her head around in surprise, still hanging onto the bar. "Maleficent," she said, before dropping down and hurrying over to Maleficent. Stopping a few steps away, Aurora gave her a confused look. "What are you doing here?"

The urge to reply with the same question was strong, but Maleficent ignored it. "I have the latest report from engineering, and you didn't respond when I called you over the comm system."

Aurora's confusion immediately disappeared, replaced by a wince and a faint blush. "The comm system must still be offline in this section. I thought I fixed it, but..." She ended with a helpless shrug.

"At least you found a way to pass the time," Maleficent noted, offering glance to the pile of exercise-related items a little further away. She guessed that must have been the package that Aurora had been carrying earlier.

"Yeah," Aurora said, breaking out in a grin. "I thought I'd just use some dumbbells like I usually do, but then I found this bar lying around and I figured I could switch it up a bit." Then a thought seemed to hit her. "It's not bothering you, is it? The, uh," she gestured at herself, "sweat and all that. I know Vulcans have better smell than we do."

"It's not a problem." Strangely enough, she actually meant it. Maleficent had smelled Aurora's almost as soon as she had seen her, but for a human the smell was... not entirely unpleasant. Perhaps she had gotten numb from all her time around Balthazar and Diaval. Men – at least human ones – tended to smell more than women. "I wouldn't be able to function very well on a starship if I couldn't handle humans exercising." Recalling the reason she was there in the first place, she held out a PADD for Aurora to take. "The engineering report."

"Thanks." Aurora skimmed through the report, muttering a word here and there to herself.

While Aurora read, Maleficent took the time to study Aurora's disheveled appearance further. She didn't look like she had worked out very intensely or for very long, seeing how her clothes didn't show any major damp spots yet. Still, her arms were covered in a fine sheen of sweat and her hair – pulled up in a loose bun – was a mess with wavy tresses loose in several places. One lock in particular was hanging down precisely in front of Aurora's left eye, causing her to lightly brush it aside time and time again as she read the PADD. Maleficent's fingers itched to tuck that lock behind Aurora's ear – there was no point in simply brushing it aside if it didn't stay there – but that would be a clear violation of so many Starfleet personal integrity regulations that she felt intrusive even thinking about it. Besides, she would not annoy the captain simply because of one of her silly human urges.

At last, Aurora finished the report and handed it back. "Everything looks good, but tell Balthazar to make weapons a priority. I don't want to leave the station without them, and if Jeresea comes through, we might be able to leave pretty soon."

"I agree." Maleficent jotted down a few notes on the PADD, then looked up at Aurora again. It had been a while since they'd had some time alone, and it felt a little abrupt to leave just like that. Perhaps some more bonding was in order, especially when they were only now starting to ease up around each other again after the fight in Aurora's ready room a few weeks earlier. "Do you often use this cargo bay for training?"

Aurora shrugged. "Back on Earth, I usually jogged outside every other day. Trying to work out indoors felt so cramped, and this is the largest place I can find on board the ship. At least until the holodecks are fixed."

"Then we should make sure the comm system works on this deck."

"Oh, yeah, right!" Aurora fumbled for her combadge before realizing it was still on her jacket, not to mention the state of the comm system. "I'll just see if someone in main engineering has some time over."

Maleficent dismissed the suggestion with a slight shake of her head. "That won't be necessary; I'm more than qualified." When Aurora looked set to argue, she added, "And before you ask, no, I do not have some other pressing matter to attend to."

Having exchanged a faint yet reassuring smile with Aurora, (Maleficent had quickly found that a smile would often ease any tension between them, despite her own aversion to such emotional outbursts) Maleficent strode over to the nearest wall panel and opened it, exposing the isolinear chips inside. A cursory inspection told her that the damage was even less severe than she had expected. Sitting down in a more comfortable position, she began her repairs. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Aurora stretching, thankfully not bothered by the silence between them.

Soon, the repairs were close to done. Maleficent replaced the last chip in the panel and stood, smoothing out her pants as she did. Tapping her combadge, she said, "Diaval."

" _Commander?_ " The reply was a little raspy, but it would have to be good enough.

"I've attempted to repair the comm system on deck three. Please run a diagnostic to see that it's working correctly."

" _I'm on it._ " A few moments passed before the comm system crackled to life again. " _Everything looks okay here. The sound isn't really up to par but it should work well enough._ "

"Good. Thank you." She tapped her combadge again, closing the connection, and turned to Aurora. She wasn't quite sure what to say. "The repairs are finished."

Aurora nodded, uselessly brushing aside that lock of hair that she _still_ refused to tuck away properly. "Before you go..." She wore an odd expression, as if scrutinizing Maleficent's appearance. "Do you happen to know Suus Mahna?"

It wasn't often that Maleficent was surprised, but she had to admit that Aurora asking her about Vulcan martial arts was not what she had expected. "I'm no master of it."

"But you _do_ know it," Aurora exclaimed, eyes lit up in excitement. "I tried getting someone to show it tome at the academy but all the Vulcans there either didn't know it or didn't feel it was an 'optimal use of their time' to show me." She grinned, a little sharper and toothier than usual. "But you recently said that you didn't have anything better to do, so..." She let the words hang in the air.

Maleficent pursed her lips, considering her options. She hadn't seen Aurora this excited in weeks, and she certainly wouldn't squander this kind of opportunity to improve the ship's captain's morale, even if it included questionable activities such as practicing martial arts. In an abandoned cargo bay. With the captain.

These were strange times.

"Very well." Maleficent took off her jacket and lay it on top of a crate nearby. As she shrugged off her shirt, she asked, "Should I merely show you a few techniques, or should we make things a bit more..." she raised a taunting eyebrow, "interesting?"

"Interesting?"

"Sparring." At this point, she couldn't hold back a faint smirk.

The resulting grin that spread across Aurora's face lit up the whole room. "You'll have to go easy on me, though. I'm barely even a novice in Mok'bara." 

Maleficent's brows rose. "Klingon martial arts? Another result of your interest in Klingon literature?"

Stepping out into the open middle of the cargo bay, Aurora shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. "I managed to find a Klingon willing to teach me a little when I was stationed at a starbase a couple of years ago." Her grin turned impish. "She helped me with my pronunciation, too."

"I see." Maleficent stepped out in front of Aurora, getting into a fighting stance. "Well then. Let's spar, _Captain_."

They started out with simple strikes and dodges, both to warm up and to test each other out. Soon, their sparring relaxed, falling into an easy rhythm of attack and defense.

"Very nice," Maleficent noted as Aurora cleanly dodged one of her kicks.

Aurora chuckled, a little short of breath, her grin still firmly in place. "This is _much_ more fun than the exercises in the academy."

"I doubt anyone could call Starfleet's hand-to-hand combat–" she sidestepped a palm strike, circling Aurora with a few steps, "– _fun_. Or particularly useful, for that matter." With grace that elicited a half-gasp, half-laugh from Aurora, Maleficent dodged two kicks in rapid succession, barely moving in the process.

"Is that actually part of _Suus Mahna_ or are you just showing off?" Aurora grumbled, striking out again with her hand at Maleficent's neck.

In one swift move, Maleficent grabbed Aurora's arm and spun her around, trapping Aurora in a steely hold with one hand on Aurora's arm and one arm looped around Aurora's midriff, holding Aurora's back tight against Maleficent's chest. A second or two passed before Maleficent let her go. "Vulcans do not 'show off'."

"Right," Aurora snorted as she got back into her fighting stance.

They continued to trade strikes and kicks, dodging and blocking, never seriously enough to risk hurting each other. Despite Aurora's inexperience, she was quick and flexible and Maleficent found the aggressiveness of _Mok'bara_ to be a nice complement to the calm, logical defensive style of _Suus Mahna_.

"They really should teach this at the academy," Aurora panted, blocking a blow directed at her chest and staggering back a few steps in the process.

" _Suus Mahna_ takes years to master. I doubt most cadets would want to put that much time into hand-to-hand combat."

"Maybe they could teach it as an extension course." 

Aurora sidestepped Maleficent's next strike and grabbed her arm in what Maleficent could only guess was meant to be some kind of disarming move, but something went wrong and Aurora lost her balance, somehow managing to pull Maleficent down with her. In the few fractions of a second that they were falling, Maleficent considered the floor: it was hard and definitely not designed for people to fall on. There was a reason why Maleficent had refrained from using any throwing techniques. Acting on reflex alone, Maleficent twisted her body, trying to shield them both from the worst of the fall.

A moment later they were in a heap on the floor, Aurora on her back and Maleficent over her. Maleficent had been able to fit in a hand cradling the back of Aurora's head, keeping it off the floor, while Maleficent held herself up with her other hand. After the first shock passed, Maleficent carefully lowered Aurora's head to the floor, but for some reason she couldn't get herself to remove her hand. Wide-eyed and still panting, Aurora gazed up at her, saying nothing.

Seconds trickled by before Maleficent slowly realized that one of her legs were wedged between Aurora's thighs. Between the _captain's_ thighs. She wasn't sure which was more inappropriate. More importantly, she was straddling Aurora and she had no idea how to act in this situation.

"I didn't mean to do that," Aurora said quietly, an apologetic expression flitting across her face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Maleficent unconsciously licked her lips, eyes still riveted to Aurora's. _What to do._ "I... should ask you the same thing."

"I'm good."

"Good."

Maleficent wasn't sure anymore if the situation had turned awkward or not yet. Regardless, she needed something to say. She needed a way _out_. Unfortunately, Aurora was – as always – the worst kind of distraction, turning Maleficent's mind into an increasingly incoherent mess. She would have to meditate a _lot_ tonight. Licking her lips again, Maleficent tried to push all irrelevant thoughts aside, without much luck.

Finally, she spoke. "Let's have lunch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope the fight scene worked out, I'm not all that used to writing them.
> 
> Next week: more alien food!


	14. Imperfect aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a pain to write, but I finally got the Malora fluff as fluffy as I wanted to. Two more chapters are all but finished, but I won't give any promise on when they might show up as I'm terrible at sticking to them. They are all around 3k words long however so there's a lot of stuff to be read (eventually, heh)
> 
> There's some treknobabble and some namedropping of more or less ficticious alien dishes in this chapter, but nothing that needs explanation, I think. If anything is unclear though, please let me know. Enjoy :)

The mess hall was beginning to fill up when Maleficent entered, mostly with the early shift from engineering. Aurora wasn't with her; she had hurried off to her quarters to take a quick shower and would join Maleficent as soon as she was presentable. 

Maleficent made her way over to the food replicator. After the workout with Aurora, she was more than a little peckish, and her regular salad wouldn't do. She ordered a large slice of Andorian green beetroot pie and a glass of water, but then she hesitated. Aurora had asked her to order for her as well, but Maleficent only realized now that she still didn't know much about Aurora's taste. Did she like other kinds of non-human dishes too, or only Vulcan food? Perhaps she would enjoy a bowl of kchtoy, or a Risian bread cake? On one hand, she wouldn't be surprised if Aurora happily ate Klingon food – albeit maybe more for the cultural value than the taste – but on the other hand she hadn't seemed too familiar with Vulcan food before meeting Maleficent.

After several frustrating minutes of indecision, Maleficent decided to go with one of Diaval's favorite dishes. With a last, dark glare towards the replicator and the time it had made her waste on wholly insignificant matters, she made her way over to one of the free tables near the windows. She nodded to a few officers in passing, but thankfully no one struck up a conversation. All she wanted now was to eat in peace and quiet and try to get her thoughts in order again. At least that was what she tried to tell herself, even as her eyes seemed to gravitate towards the doors on the other side of the room.

Aurora showed up a little while later, in full uniform again, although her hair was about as unkempt as before. Even that incessant lock which had been dead set on blocking Aurora's left eye had remained, bouncing slightly against her left temple. Spotting Maleficent, Aurora lit up and made a beeline for her table.

"What did you order?" Aurora asked as she sat down, peering curiously at the food on her plate. She bent down and sniffed, a frown knitting her brows together. "I don't recognize it. Some kind of Bolian omelet?"

"It's a Romulan vegetarian omelet called lehlo, made with some of the same spices used in Romulan ale. It's usually a bit too strong for me, but I thought you'd appreciate the flavor."

The slow nod and content hum Aurora made as she chewed on a first bite pleased Maleficent more than she'd care to admit.

"I didn't know you knew Romulan food," Aurora remarked. "We don't really have that much of a cultural exchange with them, after all."

"It's something I picked up from Diaval. He's quite into cooking when he makes time for it."

"He is? I had no idea. I'll have to ask him about that. Do you think he'd mind?"

Maleficent scoffed. "I highly doubt that, unless you want to eat eggs."

"Eggs?" Aurora gave her omelet a look. "Is that why this is vegetarian?"

"Diaval is very passionate about birds." Maleficent let out a dramatic sigh. "I have pointed out the illogical nature of caring about food made in a replicator, but he still insists on a diet entirely devoid of birds. Thankfully he has other redeeming qualities."

"Oh. Well, as long as you don't _egg him on_ too much." Met by nothing but Maleficent's withering stare, Aurora smoothly turned her attention to Maleficent's food. "So, what are you eating?"

"Andorian green beetroot pie." Taking notice of Aurora's curios gaze, she added, "Would you like to try some?"

Reaching across the table, Aurora carefully picked up a piece of pie with her fork, making sure not to drop anything. Chewing on it, her expression went from curious to hesitant. "It tasted very... interesting. A bit too tart for me."

"Diplomatic as always, Captain," Maleficent noted dryly.

"I didn't go to Starfleet Academy for nothing, you know." She fell silent, taking another bite of her omelet and turning to look out through the large window.

Maleficent followed her gaze, in lack of anything else to watch. In the darkness of space, she could vaguely make out the outline of the station, barely visible near the edge of the window. Farther away were a plethora of ships, many docked to the station while others were in orbit around it. Military, civilian, Klingon and Romulan and many more Maleficent didn't recognize – the ships looked to be from all parts of the quadrant.

A quiet sigh made Maleficent turn back to Aurora, who was still looking out through the window.

"Is something wrong?" Maleficent asked.

Aurora stirred, as if she had forgotten Maleficent was there. "Oh, uh, no, everything's fine." She gave Maleficent apologetic smile, then shot another glance out the window. "I think I'm a little homesick, that's all. This place reminds me of Earth Spacedock." She let out a wistful little chuckle. "At least if you ignore the criminals, I guess."

"It does have a certain... sense of community," Maleficent agreed.

"Yeah," Aurora sighed. "I never thought I could come close to getting tired of alien cultures, but I'm starting to miss home."

"Perhaps what you miss is a sense of security. I find it preferable to experience alien cultures without firefights."

"That's true."

They ate in silence again, a silence that Maleficent found increasingly uncomfortable. Something about Aurora's expression – the dull eyes, the slight hunch to her posture – gnawed at Maleficent, urging her to do something. She wasn't used to cheering people up, though. When Diaval was in a bad mood, she simply toned down her snarky remarks until he was feeling better, but Aurora worked in entirely different ways.

Finally, in lack of anything better to say, Maleficent asked as casually as she could, "Have you been to Vulcan?"

Aurora gave her an odd look, staring dumbly for a second before shaking her head. "I've been wanting to, but I've never gotten around to it, no. Why?"

"You've seemed interested in Vulcan culture. I thought..." Maleficent hesitated, cursing every molecule of her human self. Why was this so difficult? "Perhaps you would like to visit it some day."

Aurora's face lit up, eyes wide and bright. "I'd like that," she said, then added, "Is that an... invitation?"

"If that is what you wish." Trying to ignore just how piercing Aurora's eyes felt on her, she continued, "Of course, I didn't grow up on Vulcan, so I'm sure there are others who know the planet better."

"Oh, I don't mind," Aurora grinned, all traces of gloom gone. "There's so much I've wanted to see there! The fire plains, the capital, the deserts..." Her eyes glazed over, lost in thoughts again, a smile on her lips.

"Perhaps we'll have some time over when we've returned to Earth and the Fae is getting repaired," Maleficent suggested.

Aurora nodded enthusiastically. "I'll hold you to that."

The rest of the lunch passed at a leisurely pace. The conversation went from food to culture and more, always staying light and easy. Aurora's gloomy mood didn't return and Maleficent could enjoy the time without any nagging feelings. For a while, the repairs didn't seem as important and their situation didn't feel as critical; it was a welcome break. 

When they eventually rose to leave, the mess hall was filled to the brim with officers from engineering, many dirty and ruffled from the repairs. 

Outside, Aurora hesitated, fiddling with her fingers absentmindedly. "I should probably go back to the bridge. I think I've had enough exercise for one day."

Maleficent prided herself in having excellent control of her emotions, urges, and most kinds of reflexes. Yet despite her Vulcan mental discipline, when Aurora uselessly brushed that lock of hair aside _again_ , Maleficent was pushed past her limit. She pursed her lips in annoyance, glaring at the lock.

"Maleficent?" Aurora peered up at her in confusion.

"You're supposed to set a precedent for the rest of the crew, Captain." She raised her hand towards Aurora's forehead, stopping midair. "May I?" Granted, most officers looked distinctly _less_ proper than Aurora, but her point was still valid.

Aurora blinked, her confusion only increasing, but she nodded.

Carefully, Maleficent reached up and tucked the errant lock of hair behind Aurora's ear. Chancing a look at Aurora's face, she found her looking up at Maleficent with wide eyes, a slight blush on her cheeks. Maleficent swallowed. Suddenly the situation felt like the one in the cargo bay: far too intimate to be appropriate, yet for some reason not nearly as awkward as she assumed it should be. Maleficent's hand hung midair as her mind worked frantically to try to analyze the situation. Her hand was close enough to Aurora's face that she could almost feel the heat coming from Aurora's skin, and–

"Commander?"

Diaval's sudden appearance in the corridor made Maleficent and Aurora split apart, putting some space between each other and doing their best to look casual.

"I see you found the captain," Diaval said slowly, looking from Maleficent to Aurora and back again.

"I did."

"She helped me with my hair. Officer dress code," Aurora hurried to fill in. "In any case, I should go back to my ready room. I have reports." With a sharp nod and a quick glance towards Maleficent, she turned on her heel and left.

The silence that followed was as heavy as it was suggestive, and Maleficent wondered idly if the use of a site-to-site transport off the ship in the interest of interpersonal relationships would be in accordance with Starfleet regulations.

Probably not.

Finally, she had had enough. "What."

"I didn't say anything."

"I could _hear_ you not saying anything." She glared at Diaval. "Your silence is very loud."

"You never fixed _my_ hair."

Maleficent didn't dignify that with a response.

 

* * *

 

After saying goodbye to Maleficent, Diaval headed into the mess hall for some lunch of his own. He had spent most of the morning ripping out charred circuitry on deck four, trying to get the auxiliary deflector to work. They needed the shields at their best and with the main deflector only working on little more than half capacity, the secondary emitters were sorely needed.

He grabbed his lunch from the replicator and then looked out over the crowded room to try to find a seat. Spotting Terei hunched over a PADD at one of the tables, he went to join her.

"Commander, would you mind some company?"

Terei looked up, then shrugged. "Have a seat."

"Thanks."

"While you're here, take a look at this, will you?" Terei said, sliding her PADD over towards Diaval. "I've been trying to enhance the resolution of the waverider's sensor by using parts of the Fae's sensor array, but I can't find a way to get enough bandwidth for the data."

"But the sensors were completely destroyed," Diaval argued, a little confused by Terei's suggestion. "There's barely anything left of the circuitry."

"All the subprocessors and the isolinear circuitry were destroyed, but the _physical_ sensor array is still there. Without any kind of sensor circuitry hooked up to it, it can't do anything, but if we could rig it to the waverider's sensors..."

"The resolution and range should get exponentially better," Diaval filled in, his brain whirring to life as he took a bite of his meal. "It'll be tricky, though. What about rigging the waverider to the deflector instead?"

Terei shook her head. "Too risky. If something happens to the waverider, the shields might go offline at the same time. The best I can come up with is laying down a cable. A really big cable."

"That is one way," Diaval said, wincing as he thought of the logistics. They would probably have to lay it in the Jefferies tubes, through several decks... Even if they got the cable up and running, it would mean several access ports wouldn't be able to close in case of emergency, and they were having a lot of those lately. "I'll do some digging and see if there's a better way. We might be able to use parts of the EPS grid, or do it wirelessly."

"I'd appreciate it."

Diaval fell silent, watching the the myriad of people around him. He recognized a fair number from the engineering crew, mostly members of Maleficent's old crew that she had brought along when she joined as captain Roberts' chief engineer. The majority of the Fae's crew, however, were from other places, Commander Terei included. Diaval still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about her, in large parts because he still knew so little about her. Terei was competent and practical, but she didn't seem all that interested in socializing with members of the crew. Most times he saw her, she was sitting alone with a PADD or working with a console.

"So, did you see Commander Moors and the captain in here earlier?" he said, figuring he might as well try some small talk while he had the chance. At least this time they weren't armed or in constant danger.

"They had lunch, I think. I didn't talk to them," Terei replied, eyes still fixed on her PADD. She snorted, a hint of amusement in her expression. "Although I doubt they noticed I was here."

Diaval chuckled at that, remembering how flustered Maleficent and Aurora had looked outside the mess hall a little earlier. "I'm not surprised."

"At least they're not avoiding each other all the time anymore."

"You noticed that too?"

"When you need to take the turbolift and crawl through a bunch of Jefferies tubes every time you need to find the first officer, it's kind of hard to miss," Terei said dryly. She lifted her cup to her mouth and emptied it in one swig. "Anyway, I need to get back to work. Let me know if you get anywhere with the sensors."

"Sure thing."

Diaval watched Terei leave the mess hall, feeling a little disappointed. While psychology and health weren't part of his responsibility, his job as the chief security officer meant he needed to know the crew, to know what they were capable of and how they would react in stressful situations. The more he knew – to an extent, of course – the better he could make sure the ship and the crew stayed safe. In most cases, this wasn't a problem, but Commander Terei continued to elude him, especially being a fellow bridge officer he was bound to work with on a regular basis.

Maleficent would scoff at him for this urge to get to know his colleagues – she had called him "compulsively social" more than once – but it was who he was. Still, if Terei wanted to stay on her own, there was nothing he could do about it. He supposed civil indifference would have to do.

 

* * *

 

Jastan Saar sat in her office, reading report after report about the ships that had arrived at the station during the previous three weeks. Despite her own misgivings, she had made Starfleet's request a top priority. The threat of Starfleet violating their sovereignty was real enough and the sooner they satisfied Starfleet's requests, the sooner that threat would be gone. It was in the company's interest.

So far, they had narrowed it down to a few dozen ships, but they still didn't have any good leads. Surveillance inside the station ranged from sub-par to non-existent and the station's clientele wasn't usually happy about providing information to the authorities.

She was in the middle of a report outlining the movements and actions of a group of Romulan archaeologists when her door flew open and a red-faced security officer rushed inside. "I'm sorry for intruding, Ma'am, but I was told this was to be delivered directly to you."

"I see." She took the PADD he was holding and quickly read it contents. "Is this from a trusted source? We can not afford to go on rumors. Confirm it, double check it, triple check it. I want to be absolutely sure about this."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Jastan skimmed through the data on her PADD once more as the officer left. The information looked promising, _very_ promising in fact. If it checked out, she could have Starfleet out of the sector within a week. 

She activated her comm device and opened a channel to her secretary. "Get me Major Riggi. I want to know how fast he can get his strike team ready."


	15. It's been too long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've been generally lousy with updating this fic and this chapter is entirely finished, I figured there wasn't any point in holding it back. Instead you get a new chapter already!
> 
> Note that there are mentions of non-recreational drug use in this chapter (probably not what you think) but nothing graphic or anything. Just so you know.
> 
> I don't think any terms need explaining this time either, but as always, let me know if anything is unclear. Or if you like the chapter. Or have any other thoughts. Seriously, all comments on this fic in particular brighten my day considerably. Anywho, hope y'all like the new chapter :)

Lying on her back half inside a Jefferies tube on deck three, Aurora was acutely aware of how low on her list of career priorities "starship engineer" was. Repair work was messy, hard, and uncomfortable. Still, that and the odd look she had gotten from Balthazar when asking for something, _anything_ to do that wasn't cleaning plasma manifolds or actual rocket science was well worth it, considering how her other options were twiddling her thumbs in her ready room or annoying ensigns on the bridge. Sure, engineering wasn't what she had signed up as first officer to do – and it wasn't particularly fun – but if it fixed the flickering lights in this corridor then maybe that would be enough.

She squinted at the latest isolinear chip she had pulled out, trying to figure out if it was broken or not. Rubbing her fingers over it, it turned out the damage was nothing more than grime, easily removed. She put it back, clean once more.

" _Bridge to the Captain._ "

With a few grunts and some wrangling of limbs, she managed to tap her combadge. "Rose here."

" _We've got an incoming message from Jeresea. They say it's urgent._ "

All thoughts of isolinear chips and repairs were gone in an instant from Aurora mind. "I'll take it in my ready room," she replied as she pushed out of the tube. Seconds later she was already bounding for the turbolift.

"Deck one," she called out before the doors had closed. The lift whirred to life and moments later they opened again to show the still relatively empty bridge. Aurora nodded to the ensign on duty and headed for her ready room, body tingling with apprehension.

Sitting down in her chair, she tapped the display and accepted the incoming transmission.

"Captain Rose." It was the same Jeresea employee she and Maleficent had spoken to earlier, Jastan Saar.

"Miss Saar. I was told you had urgent news?"

"I believe we have found your missing officer. We are about to conduct a raid to secure him."

"A raid? Exactly who will be doing the raid? Your security forces?"

"Correct. This is merely a courtesy call, Captain," Jastan drawled. "We both want this done quickly and efficiently with minimal losses, but I can't permit Starfleet officers to take offensive actions on board the station. This is a sovereign, privately owned station and we are _not_ in Federation space."

Aurora clenched her jaw, but she didn't see any other way than to agree to Jastan's terms. They were on enough shaky legal and diplomatic ground as it was, having threatened major military intervention without much to back it up among other things. "Fine. But I expect you to return him alive _and_ find information about who abducted him."

"We will do our best." Jastan's words didn't do much to reassure Aurora. "I hope I don't have to tell you not to leak this information to anyone outside your ship. The raid will be executed in twenty minutes. You will, of course, get regular updates on the status of the raid." 

"Of course." Aurora nodded stiffly.

"Then I will see you shortly, Captain." Jastan cut the transmission without waiting for a reply.

Aurora leaned back in her chair, letting out a deep breath as she allowed herself to relax again, if only a little. As awful as it was to accept, rescuing Phillip was solely in Jeresea's hands now. All she could do was wait.

 

* * *

 

An hour later, Aurora was slowly pacing the bridge, still waiting. She had briefed Maleficent on the message from Jeresea and then announced it to the rest of the crew. About half an hour after the initial message she had received a notice that the raid had been initiated, and then... nothing. She was sure everyone on the bridge felt as restless as she did. Diaval stood at the ops console, checking it regularly with a wary expression. The ensign at the helm was shifting in their seat every other minute, trying to hide their restlessness. Balthazar and Neterr were both at their respective workplaces, but Terei was present, standing with her hands linked behind her back and looking blankly at the viewscreen. Even Maleficent was drumming her fingers against the armrest of her chair, lips drawn in a thin line.

Giving up her pacing, Aurora dropped down in her chair with a heavy thump. "We should have heard from them by now."

Maleficent replied with an ambiguous hum, still tapping her fingers against the armrest.

"What if–" Aurora began, quiet enough that only Maleficent could hear her.

"No," Maleficent stopped her. "We will know soon enough. Speculation will not help."

"Fine," Aurora muttered. She checked the time again. Forty minutes had passed since the last message from Jeresea. She'd give them ten – no, five – more minutes and then–

"Captain, we've got an incoming transmission," Diaval said, breaking the silence. "It's Jeresea."

Swallowing and straightening in her seat, Aurora nodded. "Alright. On screen."

Jastan Saar's face, slightly garbled from the viewscreen's damage, appeared in front of them. "Captain Rose. I'm glad to report that your officer is alive and wasn't hurt during the raid."

The entire bridge let out a collective sigh of relief.

"However, he was kept drugged by his captors and is currently unconscious. We can send him to our own medical facilities, or if you would rather have him transported to your ship–"

"We'll take care of him," Aurora said. "Diaval, send them coordinates to the sickbay and tell Neterr to be prepared."

"Unfortunately, none of the captors survived the raid," Jastan continued, "so our information on them is limited. Regardless, we'll send over what we have."

"I understand. We appreciate it."

"Good. Have a nice day, Captain."

When the transmission ended, Aurora turned to Diaval. "Do we have him yet?"

Diaval nodded. "He was beamed in just now."

"Then patch me through to sickbay." After a sign from Diaval, she continued, "Doctor? How's Ensign Scarlett looking?"

One moment passed, then another. The bridge was quiet enough that every breath seemed to echo against the walls.

" _He's unconscious, but he'll recover,_ " came Neterr's reply, after what felt like minutes. " _It looks like he has been kept sedated and drugged for days, maybe more. I won't know the specifics until I run some more tests, but I don't think there will be any permanent damage._ "

"That's good to hear." Aurora was surprised at how steady she managed to keep her voice. "Let me know as soon as he wakes up."

" _You'll be the first to know._ "

As the connection went dead, the tension on the bridge slowly evaporated, and quiet, hopeful conversations replaced the deafening silence. Aurora remained quiet in her chair, waiting for the news to sink in. Her crew was safe again, back on the ship. That heavy, numbing stress that had haunted her for weeks was beginning to loosen its grip, but right now it was being replaced by another, almost as frustrating feeling.

"You want to check up on him for yourself," Maleficent remarked, as if reading Aurora's mind. It wasn't even a question. "Doctor Neterr needs time and space to make sure Ensign Scarlett recovers quickly. I think it would be wise for you to wait."

"I know, it isn't logical." Aurora grumbled. "The doctor needs to focus on Phillip and we need to decide what to do next."

The look of approval Maleficent gave her almost made up for her frustration.

 

* * *

 

"So, what did Jeresea find, Diaval?" Aurora asked when Balthazar, Diaval and Terei had joined her and Maleficent in the briefing room.

"Not much." Diaval tapped a few commands on his PADD. "From what they could tell, the people who held Ensign Scarlett captive were some minor actors in the underground without ties to any major criminal organization."

"Why would they kidnap anyone, though?" Terei asked. "We never got any ransom demands. Why keep him drugged and hidden somewhere for weeks?"

Diaval made a face. "Organ harvesting? Waiting for a buyer maybe?"

"What about the ship? Did they find out what ship he came here on?" Aurora said.

"No. Apparently they only found him through some anonymous source who saw Ensign Scarlett at some point on the station. It doesn't even look like the people who Jeresea raided were the same people that attacked us. If we had access to their ship logs, we could use our sensor readings from after the attack to compare energy signatures, but..." Diaval trailed off with a shrug.

"That's not going to happen," Aurora muttered. "We have a ship that sold stolen Starfleet tech and left Phillip on the station, but no leads to it other than its energy signature. We have an entirely different group of people that for some reason got hold of him at some point, and continued to keep him drugged and relatively unharmed. Both are dead ends. Unless Phillip can tell us something when he wakes up, we have nothing to go on. Does anyone have any ideas?" When no one spoke up, she turned to Maleficent.

Maleficent thought it over for a moment. "I think we should make sure the ship is sufficiently repaired and then leave. There isn't much more we can do here without reinforcements from Starfleet."

"I agree," Terei chimed in, much to Aurora's surprise. It wasn't often Terei and Maleficent agreed on anything. "Without any leads and with the state the ship and the crew are in there's no point in sticking around more than necessary. We got our officer back."

"I don't like letting our attackers go free, but like you all say, we don't have anything to go on." Frowning, Diaval put down the PADD and looked around at the other. "I have to say though, it feels a little too... _neat_."

Terei raised an eyebrow. "Neat?"

"Everyone on the station wants us gone, right? The last thing they want is Starfleet poking around in their business. And now, we get our crew member back, our attackers are long gone, and the people holding him are conveniently all dead, without any leads or ties to anyone else. It's too simple."

"You have a point, but that doesn't change anything. We don't have the resources to stay, especially if we make an enemy out of Jeresea." Aurora turned to Balthazar who had been quiet the whole time. "Where are we with repairs?"

Balthazar crossed his arms, looking uncharacteristically tired. "As much as I would like to get the hell away from here and find a proper shipyard, we need more time. We're making good progress on the warp drive but I don't want to leave here with anything less than warp seven. Weapons and shields are almost working too, but half the decks are still offline."

"How many days?"

"Two, maybe three days."

It wasn't the answer Aurora had wanted, but it would have to do. "Alright. In the meantime we'll just have to keep a low profile."

 

* * *

 

It wasn't until that evening that Neterr called for Aurora and Maleficent to join him in sickbay. Phillip lay on one of the biobeds, pale and gaunt but without any visible injuries.

"What's the verdict, Doctor?" Aurora said, doing her best not to fidget.

Neterr stood behind Phillip's biobed, preparing a hypospray. "I've run some tests and he seems to be well enough to wake. I thought you should be present."

Aurora nodded. "Go ahead." 

Turning Phillip's head gently to the side, Neterr applied the hypospray to Phillip's neck. It didn't take long before Phillip let out a quiet sigh, wincing and moving slightly. He blinked at the light, looking first at Neterr, then over at Aurora and Maleficent. "Captain? Commander?" he mumbled, increasingly confused by the second. "I don't remember– how did I get here?" He coughed, his whole body shaking from the exertion. "Am I back on the Fae?"

Aurora gave him a faint smile, careful not to let her worry show too much. "Yeah, we got you back. How much do you remember?"

"I, uh... I was on my way to the bridge when I saw something on one of the dark decks. Then... someone shot me. The rest is pretty fuzzy. They gave me something, made me drowsy."

"You were drugged with several different substances, probably since the time you were abducted," Neterr explained. "You'll have to stay here in sickbay until I'm sure all the drugs are out of your system."

Phillip nodded weakly. "Sounds good, Doctor."

As Phillip slipped back into unconsciousness, Neterr guided Aurora and Maleficent away from his bed. "As I said, he's been heavily drugged. I don't expect he'll remember much from his time in captivity, and even if he does we can't be sure what of it is real and what is the result of the drugs."

"Has there been any permanent damage?" Maleficent asked.

"Thankfully, no. The drugs used was a mix of relatively mild, non-addictive sedatives and hallucinogens, most likely as a crude way to both keep him pliant and not having worry about him remembering anything important afterwards. Actual memory-altering drugs are much more sophisticated and unreliable. After the drugs are out of his system, he shouldn't have any physical problems. Psychologically, however..." Neterr faltered, his expression serious. "It's too early to tell."

 

* * *

 

Late that night, Aurora squirmed and turned around in her bed for the umpteenth time, just as awake as she had been hours earlier. Her body was tired, but her mind just wouldn't turn itself off and fall asleep. Counting sheep, listing Federation member planets, even reading design specifications for plasma manifolds – one of the least exciting things she knew – nothing helped.

Muttering a few well-chosen Klingon profanities, she kicked off her bed sheets and crawled out of bed. Maybe some chamomile tea would help. She padded over to the replicator, but something caught her eye on the way there. Maleficent's bed was empty and untouched. Was she still working at this hour? Sure, Aurora had a vague memory of how long Vulcans usually could stay without sleep – a week, maybe two? – but with Phillip back and the repairs on track it seemed a little excessive.

"Unable to sleep?"

A split second passed as Aurora's tired mind tried to figure out both where the voice was coming from and who was talking. Confused, she circled the sofa, finding Maleficent cross-legged on the floor in front of it.

"What are you doing up?" Aurora asked.

"Meditating."

"Oh." Aurora paused a beat, sifting through her tired mind for something to say. "Does it help? With... sleep... or thoughts. You know."

"It does." She paused for a moment. "Are you having trouble sleeping as well?"

"Yeah. I can't get my mind to be quiet."

"Perhaps some meditation would help you as well."

"I don't have to be a Vulcan?" Aurora asked, plopping down on the floor in front of Maleficent.

"Unless you're planning on meditating instead of sleeping on a regular basis, then no. Now, close your eyes."

With her eyes shut, it was only harder to push out the intrusive thoughts. Every noise was amplified, every memory caused vivid images to flash before her eyes, reminding Aurora of every incident and everything that had gone wrong since she had taken command of the Fae.

"Imagine yourself in space. You're standing on a planet, its surface flat and empty. Above you is the vast emptiness of space, softly illuminated by millions of stars, too many to make out. Can you see it?"

Aurora knitted her brows together in concentration as she tried to keep the picture of the planet steady in her mind. "I think so. Almost."

"You walk slowly across the plains. The dust and gravel feels comfortable underneath your feet, not too soft but not too unyielding. Everything is silent. Everything is calm. You move at your own pace. How do you feel?"

"More... calm," Aurora murmured, although she still had to work to keep the planet visible in her mind.

"Good. Are the thoughts that kept you awake still present?"

"Yeah."

"Then let them surface." Just when Aurora was about to protest, Maleficent continued, "You are still on the planet. You are in the empty void of space. As much as the thoughts want your attention, it is futile. You can't hear them, because the planet has no atmosphere. You can't see them, because they aren't corporeal entities." She paused again, then spoke in a slightly lower voice. "All you can hear is your body: your heartbeat, and your breathing. Nothing else matters, nothing else is audible."

Letting out a soft sigh, Aurora focused on the planet in her mind. The feeling of walking across the surface, the view of the sky and horizon, and the sound of nothing.

No, that wasn't quite right. The sound of nothing, _and_ the sound of Maleficent's voice, a sound Aurora found increasingly soothing.

"Look up at the sky," Maleficent continued. "Look out over the horizon. The planet and the stars have been here for eons, and will persist for eons to come."

Slowly, Maleficent's voice turned into an indistinct murmur, washing over Aurora like waves on a beach. She saw herself on the planet but she wasn't alone anymore. Maleficent was in front of her, eyes closed and her expression serene. The thoughts that had kept Aurora awake earlier seemed distant now, drowned out by the sound of Maleficent's voice and the view of the planet.

A smile spread across her face as she gazed up at the sky. Perhaps she should have felt scared or lonely, stranded on a barren world, but with Maleficent beside her she only felt safe. Whatever happened, they could handle it together.

She never noticed falling asleep, nor did she notice Maleficent carrying her back to her bed. That night, she slept better than she had done in weeks.


	16. On the home stretch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another chapter that has been with me for way longer than it should have, but hey, it's finally finished.
> 
> Fair warning and/or disclaimer: this chapter includes something close/similar to a panic attack. I don't have a lot of experience with those (thankfully, I suppose) but I hope I wrote it at least in a plausible way without any glaring mistakes.
> 
> No word list should be necessary in this chapter either since all the treknobabble (the algorithm and the building materials) are rather self-explanatory. And I made them all up. _Worldbuilding!_
> 
> Enjoy :)

Phillip woke up feeling as if he had been run over by a shuttlecraft. His mouth was dry, his body ached, every muscle felt like it didn't have enough power to counteract gravity, and nausea was just around the corner. 

"How do you feel?" Doctor Neterr stood next to the biobed, peering down at Phillip with a tricorder in hand.

"Not too good," Phillip mumbled, his voice raspy from disuse. "Everything kind of... hurts."

"You're in withdrawal from the drugs right now. I'm going to give you something for the pain, but it'll take some time for your body to recuperate fully." 

Phillip felt a hypospray to his neck, soon followed by his pain receding. 

"Thanks, Doc," he mumbled as he slowly drifted back into sleep.

 

* * *

 

The next time Phillip woke up, he still felt tired and weak, but the pain and the nausea were much more manageable. Prying his eyes open, he blinked at the dim light above before carefully tilting his head to the side, trying to regain his bearings. He remembered getting back to the Fae, but after having only been semiconscious for so long, it too a while for the surroundings to register in his mind. The smells were different. The sounds were softer, not as metallic. The furniture and the bulkheads were familiar. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief and let his eyes close again. He was back on the Fae.

Phillip wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually he realized that he wasn't going to fall asleep again. With restlessness creeping into his limbs, he braced his arms against the bed and pushed himself up, swinging his legs off the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he steadied himself, waiting for his head to stop spinning. Thankfully, the nausea from earlier was steadily getting weaker.

As he sat there, he tried to recall his weeks in captivity. Most of his memory were fuzzy at best, so jumbled and incoherent that he wasn't how much of it was real, but a few ones stood out. The hyposprays. The pattern of the ceiling. The metallic staccato of the doors as they opened and closed. The rhythmic vibrations from the engines. He even remembered thinking about the vibrations in particular – once when the drugs were beginning to wear off – wondering what kind of inertial dampeners would create a pattern like that. Anything to keep his mind off where he was and what was going to happen to him.

"Oh, you're up. Are you feeling better?"

Phillip looked up to see one of the medical officers – one he only had a vague recollection of – walking up to him, tricorder in hand.

"A little, yeah. The pain isn't as bad as before." 

"Good, good," the medical officer mumbled, running the tricorder scanner over Phillip. "Everything looks okay. You still have to stay in sickbay for the time being, but feel free to walk around inside if you want to. I'll be right back with something to help with the withdrawal symptoms."

"Okay." Phillip took a few long, deep breaths, letting his eyes wander over the interior of the sickbay. The lights were still dimmed, so he guessed it was still fairly early, or late. Apart from the medical officer that he'd spoken with, there was no one else present.

Carefully, he slid off the bed, testing his legs. With one hand on the mattress, he took a few steps around the bed, getting used to being on his feet. He couldn't help but smile; something as little as standing up was a wonderful change after so long being bedridden by those heavy drugs his abductors had put him on.

The medical officer returned with a hypospray in hand. "Alright, hold still, this should make you feel better."

Phillip sat down on the bed as the medical officer tilted his head to the side and pressed a hypospray to Phillip's neck. The feeling of it against his skin sent a shiver down Phillip's spine.

"There we go. The doctor should be here soon to give you a full checkup. I'll be in the office if you need anything." The officer patted Phillip on the arm, put the used hypospray on the table by the bed and then left.

The place on his neck where the hypospray felt sore, pulsating softly in sync with Phillip's heartbeat. It was probably just a side effect of the medication, though.

_Nothing to worry about,_ he told himself, tracing the side of his neck with his fingers.

Ignoring the lingering discomfort from the hypospray, he got to his feet again. He made his way through the room, bracing himself on the furniture just in case he'd hit a sudden bout of dizziness or nausea. As he went, he began to notice something odd. What first had looked like the regular interiors of a Starfleet ship were not as pristine as he had thought. Here and there, cables and panels were loose, one of the lights was flickering slightly, and one of the computer terminals was completely dark. What had happened while he was gone?

More importantly, how long had he been gone?

"Computer, what date is it?"

Seconds rolled by, without a sound.

"Computer?"

Nothing.

He swallowed, feeling his heartbeat speed up. Why wasn't the computer responding?

_There is nothing to worry about,_ he repeated to himself. _The ship was damaged and the computer is offline. It happens._

Doing his best to push away his worried thoughts, Phillip made his way back to the bed. He was getting riled up over nothing, and he knew it. He was back on the Fae which was just having some technical problems. Running his fingers through his hair, his eyes landed on the hypospray on the table nearby. It was probably just the medication making him anxious, nothing more. His fingers slid down the side of his neck to land where the hypospray had been. The spot still ached. What had been in that spray?

The doors suddenly slid open and doctor Neterr stepped inside. When he saw Phillip, he smiled. "I see you've started to recover." Pulling out a tricorder from the pocket of his white coat, he walked over to Phillip. "How are you feeling?"

"I... don't know," Phillip said. Something felt wrong. 

Neterr hummed, knitting his brows together in a frown. "I see. I could get you something calming, if you'd like to sleep it off."

"No," Phillip blurted out, flinching at the suggestion. "I'm fine." His skin crawled and his palms were getting sweaty.

"Are you sure? You're heart rate is spiking." Neterr regarded Phillip carefully for a moment, then turned his attention to the table and picked up the hypospray. "Maybe the withdrawal medication was too high a dose."

Phillip watched with growing panic as the doctor picked up another small ampule from the table and replaced it in the hypospray. Every mechanical noise was amplified, echoing and nearly drowning out all other sounds.

People looming over him, pinning his head to the side.

A sharp sting on the side of his neck, pain radiating out from the spot.

Warm, sickening tingling filling his body as he lost what little energy he had.

Fading in and out of consciousness.

Helpless. Powerless.

"No," Phillip croaked, scrambling back in terror.

_This is still the Fae,_ he tried to tell himself. _I'm on the Fae._

"Computer, what date is it?" If he could just hear that familiar voice, maybe he could believe that he was back on the Fae.

" _It is currently stardate: one-two-seven-one-one-one-one-one..._ "

The robotic voice continued to repeat that same word, over and over again until that too faded into the background. Phillip clutched the edge of the bed, desperate for something to ground him. Was this real? Was he still hallucinating?

"Ensign Scarlett?"

The words didn't register at first.

"Ensign Scarlett?" the voice repeated.

Phillip blinked, noticing a security officer a few feet away watching him carefully.

"Phillip?"

Hearing his name, Phillip nodded shakily.

"Do you know where you are?" Pause. "Do you know who I am?"

At that, Phillip looked up, meeting the officer's gaze. "Lieutenant Diaval," he got out.

"That's right," Diaval smiled. "And you're on the Fae. We got you back a day and a half ago."

Swallowing heavily, Phillip tried to believe it. "How long have I been gone?"

Diaval's smile dimmed, if only for a second. "Almost three weeks."

Three weeks. It was difficult to think so much time had passed; it had felt much shorter. 

"Do you feel well enough to walk?"

Phillip wavered at first, but his urge to leave sickbay quickly overpowered any other feelings. "Yeah. I think so."

With Diaval's hand on Phillip's arm for support, the two of them slowly made it out of sickbay and headed down the corridor. Despite his state of mind, Phillip noticed that the ship looked ever worse out here. Cables and tubes hung freely from ceiling and several lights weren't functioning at all. 

"What happened?" Phillip asked. The last he remembered, they were going to purge the EPS grid or something like that. Nothing that would cause this much damage. "Did my– did _they_ do this?"

"Indirectly, yes. They planted devices throughout the ship that destroyed most of the power grid when we turned the warp core back on. We've been repairing the damage ever since."

"Oh," he said numbly. It still didn't feel real. "Where are we going?"

"Well, the doc figured being in a place like sickbay brought back too many memories, so he told me to take you somewhere familiar. I was thinking we'd go to the bridge."

Phillip nodded mutely, trying to focus on the floor under his feet, the wall against his hand, and the sounds of the ship around him. Something to ground him.

They stepped inside the turbolift, taking it to deck one. The feeling of the turbolift humming to life, as mundane as it was, was surprisingly calming.

The bridge, however, was less so. The viewscreen was damaged and distorted, parts of the railing here and there were gone, and a few of the computers still had cracked screens. Apart from an officer at the ops station, the bridge was empty.

Taking a deep breath, Phillip stepped onto the bridge and continued carefully past the captain's and the first officer's chairs, towards the helm. Even that hadn't gotten out of these past weeks unscathed, but at least the chair and the screen were still functional. He sat down, instantly feeling calmer from the familiar feeling of his seat.

"Feeling better?" Diaval asked, standing a little to the side as not to crowd him.

"Yeah." A smile pulled on Phillips lips as he brought the console to life, running his fingers over the controls, entering a few simple commands. The quiet beeps and the faint feedback on his fingertips from the console slowly began to ease his worries.

He was back on the Fae.

 

* * *

 

Some hours later, the bridge was quiet and dim, as it mostly had been for the past few weeks. The captain was in her ready room and apart from Terei, standing at the science station, there was only one other officer present, manning the ops station. With Diaval's help, Terei had managed to jury-rig the waverider to the remains of the sensor array. The result was a remarkable improvement in the sensors, which was a must if they were to be able to go to any reasonable warp speed. Flying blind even with shields up was all but a death sentence.

The preliminary simulations were looking good, although she couldn't do too many long-range scans with all the other ships around them as an active scan could be seen as a hostile action. Still, the passive scans looked promising, as did the the few active scans she had directed at empty space.

While running a short-range sensor sweep, limited enough to not accidentally target another ship or the station itself, she noticed a faint discrepancy in the readings. It was probably just another bug in the interface, causing interference in the scans, so she ran the same scan again, but the readings showed up exactly the same, with the same strange spike in radiation.

"Computer, run a level three diagnostic on the sensors."

" _Running diagnostic._ "

She ran a quick search for the radiation reading in the computer's database, but didn't find anything conclusive. If the readings weren't because of a sensor glitch, their source could be any of a number of different things.

" _Diagnostic complete. No malfunctions detected. The sensor systems are running within normal parameters._ "

"Does that include the waverider?"

" _Affirmative._ "

"That's odd," she muttered to herself.

The radiation appeared to originate on the loading dock, Terei noted. Maybe there was some new cargo that hadn't been properly sealed? With all the stuff they bought for repairs – none of it even close to Starfleet certified – there could be something broken or leaking causing the radiation, or one of the anti-grav sled they used for transporting the cargo could have been contaminated. She would have to check it out herself.

She arrived on deck five a couple of minutes later and made her way out through the airlock to the officers unloading the cargo. Seeing her, they paused what they were doing.

"Commander?"

"As you were," she replied and they relaxed. She looked around at the crates on the loading bay's floor outside the ship. "Is all this cargo meant for the repairs?"

"Among other things, yes," one of the officers replied, checking his PADD. "There's also some deuterium, a crate with phasers, and some tools we had to replace. Oh, and then there's that crate over there." He pointed at one of the crates that was standing a little farther away, still on the anti-grav sled. "There must have been some kind of mix-up when they loaded the cargo, because it's not on any of our lists."

Terei frowned. "What's in it?"

The officer looked embarrassed. "I'm– we're not sure. The crate is locked and we didn't think we would have to open it, so..."

Terei stepped over to the crate, took out her tricorder and scanned it. There was no question about it: the crate was the source of the radiation. It was strange though, as nothing should give off this kind of radiation naturally. Worse, the radiation blocked her tricorder from seeing what was inside.

Movement farther away in the loading bay caught her eye. A small group of nondescript people was working on a broken anti-grav sled in a far corner of the bay. They were from different species, wore fairly normal clothes, and weren't more heavily armed than anyone else she had seen on the station. She shook her head, reminding herself that she was a science officer, not a soldier securing the area. Old habits were hard to get rid of.

Terei checked her tricorder again. This close to the source of the radiation, she could almost make out an energy signature underneath, but the tricorder simply didn't have enough power.

"Computer," she said, tapping her combadge. "Run an Aysylin-Gogh recursive algorithm on my tricorder readings and remove the radiation interference."

While she waited for the result, she turned back to the officer she had spoken with earlier. "Which shipment did this one arrive with?"

"Let me see," he said, tapping on his PADD. "It's from some shop selling building materials in bulk. Tritanium, some basic polymers, quranate, a few liters of liquid cilinite."

Terei frowned. "None of that should emit this kind of radiation."

"Maybe we should take it back to the store? It might have been a simple mix-up." The officer flashed a wry smile. "A lot of these folks are pretty terrible at keeping proper records."

Over in the corner of the loading bay, the people repairing the anti-grav sled began to collect their tools and leave, filing out through the door. The anti-grav sled remained, apparently forgotten. With the people gone, Terei noticed a few crates on the sled, with the same design as the one she was trying to scan. Something didn't add up.

" _Algorithm complete,_ " the computer announced.

The result was still inconclusive, but it was clear that there was something inside the crate with an energy signature, and Terei guessed it had to be something important. After all, why go to all this trouble to mask whatever was inside with a tailor-made radiation emission if the contents weren't valuable? It couldn't be a coincidence, and it couldn't be anything good.

"Everyone, inside the ship, now," she called out to the officers behind her who were still going through the cargo.

"Uh, what? Commander?"

"Leave everything and get back to the ship. I don't have time to explain."

Maybe it was a probe of some sort, or some kind of illegal robot?

Some of the officers share confused glances, hesitating to leave. "Lieutenant Bailey–"

"That's an order!" she barked. "I'll deal with him later. Now _move!_ "

The officers hurried off and Terei turned her attention back to the tricorder. Her fingers flew over the buttons, clearing up the readings little by little. She was getting close and it was just a matter of time before–

Her hand suddenly froze midair and her blood ran cold.

She recognized that energy signature.

For a short moment, she merely stared at her tricorder in horror, before reality finally set in. Scrambling towards the ship, she slammed her palm against her combadge.

"Bridge, get the shields up now!"

" _Commander, is there a–_ "

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, her eyes fixed on the Fae's airlock.

"Shields! Now!" She only needed a few more seconds. " _There's a fucking bomb!_ "

The shock wave slammed into her back.

Everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dusts off hands* alright time for me to not update the fic again in two years amirite
> 
> (and yes I'm a complete sucker for cliffhangers oops)


End file.
